The Darker Side of Humanity
by danners3
Summary: A woman comes through the stargate on Atlantis, unconscious, beaten and with no memory, opening a doorway that leads to a new faction who portray the darker side of humanity.
1. Chapter 1  From Whence She Came

CHAPTER 1 - FROM WHENCE SHE CAME

"Unscheduled offworld activation." The sirens had begun to sound in the gate room just as Ronan and John were heading down to the mess for a late dinner and knowing that there were no current offworld missions in place, they detoured slightly so that their path took them into the control room.

"Expecting someone Rodney?" John quirked an eyebrow at Rodney, who sat at one of the terminals with an enormous plate of food in front of him, one hand carelessly picking up chips and tracking them to his mouth with little regard for the mess he was making, eyes glued onto the computer screen in front of him.

"No Sheppard, and there's no IDC coming through either. Elizabeth?" Rodney turned as she entered the control room. Elizabeth thought quickly. Although they were not expecting either the return of any teams, nor a communication of any sort, they did not want to discourage other planets from attempting to communicate with them. But not without appropriate security measures in place.

"John? Get extra marines in the gate room on security. Rodney, lower the shield as soon as we have that extra security in place. Let's see whose coming to call!"

John, Ronan and Elizabeth moved down to the gate room just as the extra marines took their places in a semi circle around the shimmering event horizon. Elizabeth held her breath slightly as they waited for whatever was to come through, and it was a long, somewhat tense four minutes before a bundle rolled through and came to a stop just meters away from where they were standing. Elizabeth took the time to quickly call up to the control room. "Lower the shields and close the gate."

As the event horizon slipped away and the gate was once again silent, John stepped closer to the bundle, the marines standing vigilant, weapons ready.

"Crap, it's a girl! And I think she's hurt." He clicked his ear comm. "Carson, we have a medical emergency in the gate room. Send down a team right away please."

He crouched down beside her and Ronan hovered uncertainly behind him. "How can you tell amongst all that dirt...?"

John, always ready with a slice of sometimes inappropriate humour, returned "Ahh Ronan, something to do with certain parts of her anatomy being on display, just a little... if you get what I mean." and smiled as he saw Ronan redden slightly.

He crouched down beside her and pushed back the fall of long, thick hair that covered her face, allowing full view of those anatomy parts that he had just spoken of. She had been loosely wrapped in a blanket and this had obviously come undone in the tumultous trip through the stargate and he could see quite clearly that she had nothing on underneath. Shrugging off his own BDU jacket, he gently laid it over her to give her some measure of privcy, while they waited for Carson and a medical team to arrive. Pushing back her long hair away from her face, he noted the layer of dirt and grime that covered her, and could see some bruising on her body under the dirt. Gently he stroked her face. "Hey there... and where in the hell did you come from?" he said quietly. She did not waken and John looked up to see Carson entering the gate room with a medical assistant and a gurney.

"Who on earth is this wee mite?" Carson was beside John immediately, noting the jacket he had used to cover her a little. Pulling it back he saw that she was unclothed and he reached back on the gurney for an extra blanket. "Here Colonel, see if you can cover her a little better with this."

John took back his own jacket, and pulled away the grimy small blanket that had been covering her as she had travelled through the gate, quickly and gently replacing it with the newer one, fortunately it was larger and managed to cover her more appropriately.

"Want me to move her onto the gurney Doc." John readied himself to place his arms underneath her.

Carson halted him. "Just give me a moment Colonel. I just want to look over her quickly first, before we move her and make sure there are no obvious spinal or neck injuries. John kept his eyes on her face as Carson ran his hands gently down the length of her body, and called to his assistant for a neck and spinal brace to attach as a precaution. He could see beneath the layer of grime that her bone structure was exquisite, impossibly high cheekbones down to a slightly pointed chin that held a rather fetching dimple. Her lips were beautifully formed and he imagined that when she got cleaned up she would be an extremely beautiful woman.

Carson's voice broke into his own observations. "Ok Colonel, you can move her now, but carefully lad." He got his hands underneath her and gently lifted her into his arms and there was no weight there at all and as one arm flopped slightly to the side before Carson could pick it up to place gently on her stomach, he saw the thinness of her wrist and the extremely delicate bone structure.

"What have we got here Colonel? Do you know where she came from?" Carson began wheeling the gurney to the infirmary and both John and Ronan fell into place beside him. "No idea Doc. The gate activation was unscheduled and she came through alone, unconcious, just as you saw her. Wherever she came from, she's not been treated well, I mean hell, she's naked, filthy and extremely thin. But as to who she is and why she was sent here... I imagine we'll have to wait until she wakes up to find that one out."

"Tell you what Colonel – you and Ronan go and have your dinner, it'll give us a chance to get her cleaned up and let me check her over. Swing back to the infirmary when you've finished. Maybe we'll be able to get our answers then."

John nodded, but paused briefly to activate his ear comm. "Rodney? Can you do some checking for me. Can you find out which planet she came from – would that be stored in the incoming addresses of the gate?" Waiting for his reply, he looked up at Ronan. "Ok Rodney, let me know as soon as you have something. Ronan? Let's go eat!"


	2. Chapter 2 Beauty Beneath the Dirt

CHAPTER 2 – BEAUTY BENEATH THE DIRT

Patting his stomach in appreciation of a meal that had, for once, done more than just fill an empty hole, John left the mess with Ronan in tow. Ronan, as usual, had managed to consume enough food to satisfy the hunger of around three normal men, but then again... Ronan was no normal man. The Satedan stood head and shoulders above anyone else on the base and with a musculatory structure to back it up, there was no doubt his size was extemely formidable.

John however, did not fear him. They had become good friends since the Satedan's arrival on Atlantis, often sparring together, and although John generally came off second best, he was beginning to sneak in just a few little hits of his own and had managed to wound Ronan, just once or twice.

"Let's go check out our little gate refugee...I'm curious to see how she cleaned up." He turned to Ronan. "Wonder if Rodney had any luck in tracking down that gate address..." keying his ear comm, he checked in on Rodney. "Sheppard here. Any luck on that gate address Rodney." He paused in the hallway, with Ronan slowly his own pace as he saw the look on John's face. "Strange... keep looking then, see what you can come up with. Getting the feeling that something's not right here..."

John deactivated his comm and turned to Ronan. "Rodney can't track the address – said it had been 'blocked'... odd... we've not come across that before, and Rodney didn't even know it could be done. This is starting to carry a rather rank smell about it..."

They continued on and entered the infirmary, where Carson was standing over the bed in the far corner. Carson heard them enter and turned as they neared the bed.

"Colonel - we've cleaned her up a little and there's definitely a lovely young woman under all that dirt. She's still not conscious yet, and I've run a few tests now and we can at least get an indication of some of her injuries. A couple of broken ribs, the right arm is broken and I'm just about to set that. Facial bruising,a few lacerations - but no spinal or neck injuries and given that she is unconscious, I'm assuming we'll be looking at concussion as well. The young lass has been beaten up Colonel, and I'd like to get my hands on the person who did this to her." John noted the spark of anger in the doctor's eyes and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's wait until she wakes up then Doc and hopefully she'll be able to tell us who did this to her. Then I'm sure Ronan and I will be paying them a little visit..." Ronan had neared the bed while John was speaking and looking down at the doll like patient, marked by bruising and lacerations, Ronan's jaw clenched and his hands fisted. "He'll be feeling more than just my fists Sheppard, the firing end of my weapon will be too good for him..."

"Easy big fella, I know how you feel, but we need to get all the facts first." John neared the bed now, and his breath hitched as he got his first good look at her. Impossibly pale skin upon which the bruising on her face stood out in vivid relief, long, long eyelashes, dark and curling, were feathered down across her cheeks and a cloud of wheaten coloured hair, curling and now clean, spread out across the pillow, looking like gold upon the white of the pillow and her pale face.

"Wow... under that dirt... wow!"

"Eloquent as always Colonel Sheppard." Carson leaned over his to adjust one of the monitors. "But yes, she is an extremely beautiful young woman, let's just hope we can find out where she's come from. I'm sure there is someone out there looking for her right now and must be frantic with worry."

"Any markings on her Doc, distinguishing ones, that is? Could be helpful in assisting us to find out where she comes from." John found it hard to take his gaze from her face, and the slight fluttering of those incredibly long lashes as the rapid eye movement under her lids caused them to dance lightly on her skin.

"Now that you mention it Colonel - have a look at this." Lifting the blanket from the bottom of the bed, Carson exposed her feet and turning her ankle slightly, he pointed out a tiny tattoo of a flower, positioned just above the ankle bone. John reached over to pick up the foot, noting it's high arch and saw how it fitted into the palm of his hand, incredibly tiny, in fact everything about her was extremely petite. He bent closer to look at the tattoo.

"Many cultures in this galaxy promote tattooing, but not many on women I should imagine. Perhaps that fact will help us find out where is from? Ronan?"

Ronan was looking closely at the tattoo. "The design is not one you would see on either a man or a woman from here, and the ink colouring is different." He looked at Carson. "Can a sample of the ink be taken for testing?"

"If it comes down to that Ronan, then yes, we could do that. I prefer not to be cutting bits off her at the moment, until she wakes up at least..." He covered her foot back up and the tiny tattoo etched a pattern in John's mind, triggering something just out of reach.


	3. Chapter 3 Dissillusion

Chapter 3 – Disillusion

John was woken up sometime during the night by the activation of his ear comm. He had sat up in bed reading War and Peace, having brought the book over from earth when they had arrived in Atlantis two years ago. Unfortunately, reading time was limited and he only managed a few pages here and there. Two pages into this evening's reading, he had felt his eyes getting heavy, and shutting the light out, welcomed the oblivion of sleep.

For a short while anyway... picking up his comm, he connected, knowing it was likely to be Carson. "Sorry to wake you Colonel. She's just woken up. Can you get down here? I've called Elizabeth as well. There's a bit of a problem."

John rolled himself up and threw on his base uniform that had been dropped haphazardly on the floor only a couple of hours ago. For all his military training, he still found it difficult to keep his private quarters tidy, and clothes...well... they didn't always manage to find their way onto hangars. Fortunately, the laundry staff at Atlantis knew him well and were kind enough to keep his uniforms pressed and hung, at least until they were left crumpled on his floor.

He entered the infirmary at the same time that Elizabeth did, and noted the weariness in her eyes.

"Been getting enough sleep Elizabeth? Can't you let someone else be on call during the night, and allow yourself at least one good night's sleep?"

"Sure John, just like you do...hmm?" and he smiled, because she spoke the truth.

"Carson, what can you tell us?" Elizabeth smiled curiously at the young woman who was sitting up now in the hospital bed, wheaten hair tumbling in disarray over her shoulders, hanging long and wavy, all the way down to her waist. She did not speak, but slanted smokey gray eyes at the doctor, who had placed a calming hand on her arm.

"Not very much I'm afraid." He smiled reassuringly at the woman, whose uncasted hand had begun to grip the blankets tightly, a sign of agitation and John moved closer to the bed, hesitating only when her gray eyes shot towards him in fear and he lifted his hands out in a defensive gesture to show that he meant no harm. "Hey... it's ok, we're not here to harm you in any way... we just wanna make sure that you're ok, and find out where you've come from... that's all."

Carson removed his hand from her arm, stepping back a little so that John could take another step forward, watching her eyes carefully as one would a startled animal. He saw fear in her eyes as they darkened to a stormy gray, beautiful and almond shaped, they widened slightly as he closed the gap between where he had paused and the side of her bed, hand still held out slightly in front of him.

Still she did not speak. He reached her bedside, and rested his hands softly on the blankets, very near her own and he saw her gaze drawn down to where his hands lay, and her own opened as she calmed a little and pulled her gaze back up to meet his eyes.

"What's your name sweetheart?" He said the words softly and he saw her lips open slightly as though to speak, then tears sprung into the stormy gray, and they softened to the gray of tumbling clouds. "Hey now, don't cry... it's gonna be ok..." and stricken now by her tears, he moved his hands until they lightly covered hers and she turned her head away to hide her tears. Unable to help himself, he moved one hand to her face, gently stroking the bruise, then tipped her face back so that she was looking at him again. "You don't remember anything, do you?"

Carson sighed behind him. "I was afraid of that Colonel. She seemed disorientated when she woke up, had no idea where she was or who she was. I think she has sustained a head injury and likely, temporary memory loss."

Elizabeth spoke now. "We're just going to have to wait until she remembers something, or Rodney can find which gate the address originated from. Until we get one of those things, I think we should let the girl rest, it looks like she's had a pretty rough time of it." Elizabeth smiled at her,and turned to leave and John went to do the same when she suddenly spoke.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could remember. The only memory I have is of fear, and pain and then blackness... I don't know who I am... and I'm scared..." the tears fell freely now, and concerned, Carson stepped forward, thinking that he would give her a sedative to allow her to rest and calm her back down. John was there before him, and he sat down on the bed beside her, wrapping her gently in his arms, feeling an uncommon surge of protectiveness for a woman he didn't know. He rubbed his face lightly in her hair, inhaling her scent and felt her shuddering as the tears grew into sobs and felt another tiny familiar finger of something... just hovering once again in the corner of his mind.


	4. Chapter 4 Memories

Chapter 4 – Memories

It had been an extremely short night of sleep for John. He had spent almost an hour just holding her during those early hours of the morning and had not released her until he felt the rhythmic breathing that indicated sleep and Carson had laid a hand on his shoulder saying quietly. "She'll sleep now Colonel, and so should you. She needed that, a bit of human comfort in amongst the inhuman cruelty she must have suffered these past days, or possibly weeks. Go to bed now Colonel, I'll keep watch over her."

Three hours later, he rolled over groaning, and ran a hand through his perpetually tousled hair and down his face, feeling the rasp of unshaven skin. First thing on the agenda, he thought, shower and shave... then coffee, and lot's of it.

Two cups of coffee later, he left the mess carrying a tray of breakfast food including a cup of coffee and made his way to the infirmary to see how their refugee had fared throughout the remainder of the night. Carson had signed off duty to get some sleep and left his second in command in charge, a female doctor by the name of Jennifer Kellerman. She intercepted John as he entered the infirmary, smiling as she saw the tray he carried. "That was thoughtful of you Colonel, I was just about to send down for a tray to be brought up, she'll be waking soon and I don't know when she last ate."

He placed the tray on her bedside and asked the doctor how the rest of her night had gone. "She didn't wake Colonel, emotionally and physically exhausted – that's what Carson had noted in the file he left." They had been speaking softly, but John noticed that soft gray eyes were now open and looking up at him, clearing slightly from their stormy gray as she recognised him. Smiling at her to reassure her, Jennifer introduced herself and went about taking her vital signs to note in the charts, while John picked up the coffee and waved it invitingly under her nose.

"I don't know where you're from honey, but here we start the morning with this rather intoxicating and somewhat addictive brew." She smiled then, her first smile and it was as though a cloud had cleared it's passage from the sun and the eyes became silver and crystalline. Mesmerised, John almost dropped the coffee, missing Jennifer's amused look as she noticed his rather fumbling demeanor, and the likely reason behind it.

"Thank you...John?... it smells familiar, I think. Perhaps we drink this where I come from as well..." She took the cup in her good hand and took a sip, closing her eyes as the warmth spread through her. He took the tray, and placed it on the bed in front of her, but she seemed disinclined to eat anything, saying her stomach did not feel well. John shared a look with the doctor, she was so thin and tiny and needed to eat and John resolved to find way to get some food into her.

"Doc, any chance that she is up for a wheel chair tour of the city. Just a short trip, and no speeding, I promise." This elicited a small giggle from her and a corresponding smile from Jennifer who looked at him fondly. Wheel chair races around the hallways of Atlantis were not unheard of for him and Ronan in moments of boredom when they had both been incarcerated in the infirmary at the same time. "And sweetheart? We need to give you a name... what do you think Doc? What shall we call her?"

"Dani..." Her voice was a little hesitant.

"Dani... is that your name sweetheart?" John had pulled back the blankets and was about to help her into the wheelchair, but paused to hear her answer.

"It sounds right... somehow... Dani..." He carefully placed his hands around her waist, avoiding the cracked ribs that had been strapped, and helped her down off the bed and into the chair. "Ok, so Dani it is!" he said cheerfully and shared a look with the Doctor who discreetly turned away to contact Elizabeth and let her know that they had a possible name.

She wore only a teeshirt that looked suspiciously like one of his old ones, that reached mid thigh and rode up to expose shapely legs once he had seated her in the wheelchair. Grabbing a blanket off the bed, he settled a blanket over her knees, both for warmth and a little discretion - he didn't want his marines to be getting an eyeful of that!

Keeping up a light chatter as he wheeled her around the city, they stopped in the mess first, hoping to interest her in a little food. Her eyes lit up when she saw the fruit that they regularly had sent back from earth, and she smiled up at him. "I think I'd like an apple thank you." Reaching out to grab one, he stopped suddenly and drew his hand back, looking at her curiously. "Apple? You called it an apple." Picking it up now, he casually threw it from hand to hand, watching her. She appeared confused. "Is that not what it is called?"

"That's what we call it Dani, the people from earth. Carson explained who we are and why we are here?" When she nodded, he continued. "This particular fruit does not grow in this galaxy, we have them sent back from earth, and we don't use our produce to trade with other planets. The name apple, would only be known to people from this base... and other people from earth..."

Energised now, he handed her the apple, and quickly turned the wheelchair around, heading to the control room. His features had hardened, and turning around she caught the look that was now on his face, where before there had only been sympathy and kindness. "John... you're scaring me, what's wrong?" He didn't answer, just keyed his ear comm to make sure that both Rodney and Elizabeth were in the control room, and when he wheeled her in, the look on his face had Rodney pulling up sharply and taking a breath. The Colonel only got that look on his face when he was seriously pissed.

"Just what the hell's going on here Elizabeth?" He let go of the handles and strode towards her, hands fisted on hips. "John? What on earth is wrong." Elizabeth's glance flicked from Dani to John, seeing only confusion and fear on Dani's face.

"What on earth Elizabeth... you got that right. Dani called that damn thing an apple...! Work that one out, both of you," he spat out, including Rodney in his outburst.

"Oh..." said Rodney.

"You mean...?" started Elizabeth.

"I'm from earth..." finished Dani, eyes now round and afraid. "And I don't even know what earth is..." and she threw the apple across the room, pushing herself up and out of the wheelchair, she turned and ran out of the room, one arm banded around her ribs. Curious glances followed her passage down the hallway, and one of the passing marines, attempted to halt her headlong flight but was afraid to grab her in case he hurt her. He keyed his ear comm to alert Sheppard in the direction she was heading and turned to follow her.

Injured or not, she was fast and John was out of the control room as soon as he had finished swearing. Angry at himself for scaring her, he took off down the hallway, passing one of the marines who pointed in the direction she had gone. He reached the transporters and there was still no sign of her, and he thumped the door of the nearest transporter in anger. The marine had followed him. "Sir? I don't think she would have gotten this far. She looked like she was in pain. I didn't want to grab her, saw that she was injured and thought I'd do more damage than not."

"Damn it Sargeant, not your fault. I spooked her, should have thought before I opened my mouth. She's hurt, she can't have gotten far. We'll search the rooms off the hallway."

Ronan arrived then, having heard the commotion. "You lost her Sheppard? With cracked ribs and a broken arm? Losing your touch my friend..."

"No crap Ronan, I screwed up – we need to find her before she hurts herself worse. Something you need to know as well – turns out she's from earth!"

Ronan widen his eyes at this news. "You kidding? Someone back on earth did that to her? You guys got some serious problems on your planet if that's how you treat your women."

"There's more... Elizabeth just contacted the SGC to find out who she was... news flash Ronan. She didn't come through their gate. So either there's another gate on earth that no one knows about, or she came via another planet... get's better and better! Let's find our lady, she's the only one that can fill in the blanks."

Dani felt panic as she ran down the hallway, just a desperate need to get away, feeling suddenly that she had done something terribly wrong. Her ribs ached and she had to take shallow breaths as each running step caused a jolt of sharp pain that made it hard to breathe. Hearing voices coming toward her, she ducked into an open door that closed smoothly behind her and found herself alone in the darkness and suddenly felt a terror so overwhelming that she backed up until she could feel something solid behind her and slid down the wall. The pain was intense now and she felt the blackness from within that had claimed her before, spiral up to claim her again, and sunk gratefully into the dark as consciousness was lost.


	5. Chapter 5 Interrogation

CHAPTER 5 – INTERROGATION

After searching through several hallways that branched off from the control room, they backtracked, knowing that they had gone too far. "Damn it Ronan, how can we have missed her? We'll have to check these rooms again..."

John's comm crackled. "Colonel, Carson here. What the bloody hell have you done with my patient? I come back on duty to find that you have taken her for a short trip around the base and have now been advised by Elizabeth that she is missing. Good god, you're supposed to be protecting the lass, not losing her."

"I've already yelled at myself Carson, so you don't need to jump on the bandwagon. We're searching now, Ronan's with me and I have two marines searching rooms off the hallways. We'll find her soon."

"Make sure that you do Colonel!"

John deactivated his comm and swore. They had checked several of the rooms, and now waved over the control of this last doorway and it refused to open. Nodding to Ronan, he tried again, then went to grip the centre where the two doors met to attempt to open it manually. If the sensor was blocked, it was a good indication that something was in front of the door, blocking it. Tapping his comm he radioed Rodney. "Rodney, I need you in the second supply room on level 3. We have to do a manual override of the doors." He waited until Rodney responded, then shut off the comm.

While he waited for Rodney, he crouched down and called through the door. "Dani, it's John. If you can hear me, please respond. I'm sorry that I frightened you. I'm not angry at you, just at what has been done to you. Can you hear me?" He waited a moment, and got no response and saw Rodney exiting the transporter and heading in their direction.

"Hurry Rodney. I think she's fallen against the doors and is blocking the sensors." Fortunately, Rodney chose today not to ask a million questions and was hooking up his hand held computer to the door controls and had it overridden in seconds. The doors partially opened to show that indeed a small body was blocking it and Rodney and Ronan managed to manually force the doors open a little further so that John could slip through.

The room was in darkness and only the light from the hallway coming through helped him to see the crumpled figure on the floor. He crouched beside her, put a hand on her face and lowered his face. "Dani, sweetheart. Can you wake up for me? Let me know you're ok..." He received no reply, so wanting to kick himself for his stupidity, he gently got his arms underneath her and drew her up into his arms. Stepping through the still not fully opened doors, he headed back to the infirmary to face Carson's wrath.

Carson's face told it's own story, and he only had time to place Dani on the bed and Carson's hand was pointing back to the door, giving no doubt that he wanted John out of his infirmary. Hanging his head just a little, he did just that and went back to the control room.

Elizabeth was there and she drew John off to the side. "We've got General O'Neill and two IOA officials on their way from earth in the next few minutes. This is being treated with top level seriousness, they want to find out where she came from and if it was earth, just where the second gate is."

John ran a hand through his hair, desperately needing another cup of coffee. "She's in no state for interrogation Elizabeth, you saw her earlier – and she's managed to do more damage to herself, thank's to me. I don't know what they expect to get out of her."

"The order's come from the President John, we have no choice. They need to move immediately in case we are looking at a security risk."

The squealing of the gate alarm signalled an incoming wormhole and they heard the gate technician call out "SGC's IDC, Dr Weir." Going downstairs to the gate room to meet the visitors from earth, John sighed and wondered exactly what can of worms this was all going to open.

"General O'Neill, Sir!" Giving as smart a salute as he could muster under the circumstances, John greeted the tall commander of the SGC and the man who had recruited him for the Atlantis mission.

"Colonel... I hear you have yourself a little refugee from earth. Now, that's a new one! Usually it's aliens and glowing minerals and plants that carry all sorts of nasty bacteria... but a refugee from earth, that managed to get our attention – and the president's."

"So I hear.." John murmured. "Sir, with all due respect, can you please go easy on her? She's lost her memory, or most of it, she's confused and she's been badly hurt by someone, be it from earth or from his galaxy..."

"We're not monsters Sheppard, we're human beings, and we'll have compassion for what she's been through, but we need to get to the bottom of this – now, where is she?"

"In the infirmary General, but good luck getting in to see her. She's under heavy guard by Carson and he's more ferocious than a pit bull if you upset one of his patients... as I just did..."

"So noted Sheppard, but we'll take our chances. You coming along?"

Wishing he didn't have to, he gave General O'Neill a tight smile and accompanied him and the two IOA men, who had said nothing since their arrival on Atlantis, down the hallway to the infirmary.

Seeing John enter the infirmary, Carson's eyebrows drew together forbiddingly. "Out, Colonel!"

"Ah, I have company Doc, higher up company..." and he stood back as General O'Neill moved into the infirmary and acknowledged Carson with a smile. A smile which Carson did not return. "General or otherwise, you'll not bully my patient, is that clear?" His scottish brogue came out thicker than ever, now angered over the treatment of one of his patients and the General's smile widened into a grin.

"Doctor Beckett, I'd certainly want you on my side if I was ever sick or incapacitated. We need to speak to her, we'll be as gentle as we can, but it is a matter of earth security and it cannot wait. Please doctor, I would like to do this the easy way. The hard way would involve someone higher up than me coming in and physically removing her back to earth."

"Ok General, so noted. But I'm warning you..." John had to hide a grin, the doctor certainly held no fear when it came to the welfare of one of his patients, one of the reasons he had been made chief of medical staff on Atlantis.

John spoke up again. "Let me try and talk to her first, just to smooth the way so to speak. She takes one look at you lot and she'll panic and clam up and you'll get nothing. She knows me a little, at least I'm a familiar face and I can get her to trust you hopefully."

General O'Neill considered this, then nodded. "Ok Colonel, we'll do it your way. Carson? Can you get her to wake up?"

Carson gave a sharp bark of laughter. "She's not asleep General, she's unconscious, I can't just snap my fingers and wake her up. I'm not bloody prince charming!" Again, John fought valiantly to hide his smile at the raw nerve that Carson showed and mentally gave him a high five. Fortunately General O'Neill was also known for his sense of humour so John was relieved to notice the quirk of his lips as a smile threatened.

"Ok, so we'll go and indulge in Atlantis coffee while we wait. Stay with her Sheppard and let us know as soon as she's awake and ready to talk."

They strode out leaving John and Carson looking at each other with raised eyebrows. "Well, this is one for the books.." Carson began.

"Prince Charming?" John was laughing now. "You have no respect doc, really... the man is a General for god's sake..."

They heard a soft groaning and turned, seeing Dani's agitated movements on the bed. "Feel sick..." she muttered and Carson was quick to react, bring a pan near her head and holding her hair out of the way as she retched. Nothing came up as she had not eaten in likely, several days and when she had finished he removed the bowel and got a damp, cool cloth to wipe down her face.

"Well lass, looks like you've managed to get the attention of one of our General's...not to mention turning the base upside down because our colonel in resident managed to lose you... a productive morning, I should think." He was smiling as he said it and he waited a little until her colour had returned before stepping aside to allow John to approach the bed.

An instant flicker of fear in her eyes brought a sick feeling to John's stomach and he gave himself another thorough mental kicking for putting that fear there. "We need to talk Dani, before the others come back, can we do that?" He pulled up a chair, and drew it next to the bed, sitting and picking up her good hand to run a thumb gently over the back of it. Seeing her relax slightly, he nodded to Carson to contact the General and let him know that she was awake.

"Can you remember anything yet? Fragments maybe, pieces? If you can give us something, anything, we can make a start on trying to piece together your last movements." He saw her frown and knew that she was pulling fragments out of the darkness, and kept up the soft pressure of his thumb over the back of her hand.

General O'Neill and the two IOA men walked in then and feeling her begin to tense, he increased his pressure just a little so that her eyes slanted back to his. "Talk to me Dani – they'll just be in the background listening. They want to help find out who you are, where you've come from, that's all."

The look he turned back on the General was a forbidding one, also a challenge, telling the General in no uncertain terms, that while he was the commanding officer, John was taking responsibility for this woman and would not allow them to upset her. General O'Neill nodded once in acknowledgement, letting John take the lead. He did however, hand him a picture and said quietly - "show her this, it may trigger something..."

Feeling a sense of unease, John took the picture and passed it over to Dani, laying it on the bed in front of her. The picture showed two men in military uniform, army fatigues, standing arms around each other, grinning for the camera. In staring at the photo himself, John almost missed the look of fear and shock that instantly lit up Dani's face and she went to rip the blankets back to get away from the bed and the room, and the sudden memories that had begun to flood back. John was quick this time, and pinned her shoulders slightly, forcing her back into the pillows, dropping his eyes so that he could make contact with her, watching as the shades of gray went from cloudy to stormy.

He spoke softly. "Who are these men Dani. Did they hurt you? Are they the ones who sent you here?"

Carson hovered in the background and John could see that he was extremely angry. Flicking a quick glance at him, John turned his attention back to Dani. "You know these men, don't you Dani? I think they are the ones who hurt you and I think what they did to you was so terrible that you've chosen not to remember." He turned back to General O'Neill. "Who are they?"

The general stepped forward now. "The one on the left, Captain Eric Baines, the one of the right, Major Ted White – both career military, land based forces out of Washington DC, they've both been stationed in Afghanistan for the past two years, and six months ago they were pulled out and sent back to DC. Dropped out of the loop a little so to speak and when some of their actions started to cast a few worried looks their way, The IOA here started to look into them. Turns out they've both come into a bit of money in the past six months, so they've been the centre of an investigation that seems to be turning up a lot of dead ends."

"Until now?" John guessed. The General shrugged, then turned his brown eyes on Dani, whose gray ones were huge in a pale face as she followed the story that he was telling. "It seems Major Ted White had a girlfriend. He met her in DC while home on leave from Afghanistan and when he was pulled out and sent back to DC, things escalated a little and they became close – at least that's the intel we've managed to get from friends and family. A month ago she disappeared, and so did both Ted White and Eric Baines. The girlfirend's name is Dani Stevens." He pulled another picture out of his pocket and threw it on the bed alongside the other one, showing a beautiful woman in evening dress, perfectly made up, on the arm of Ted White who wore formal military dress. He was smiling down at her and they looked like any other happy couple. John wondered how they had gone from that, to the poor beaten woman who was sitting terrified in the bed in front of him.

Carefully, he touched the bruise on her cheek. "Is any of this coming back to you Dani? At least we know who you are now, but two of the biggest concerns are – one, who did this to you and is he still out there looking for you, and two, how the hell did you end up in this galaxy?"

She shook her head, and the tears sprang easily to her eyes. "I'm sorry, I don't remember... anything. I know the name you said is right, I look at the picture and know these men, but feel terrified when I look at them, so how can I be involved with one of them? I can remember bits and pieces of my life before, but fragments only, and nothing from the last six months. What are you going to do with me?"

John spoke up, turning to face the General. "You can't send her back to earth – whatever happened there, she was obviously a part of it, and they may be either still looking for her or assume she is dead. You need to find those two men – they will provide the answers, and I'm getting a bad feeling that they are involved in something very very black ops, that possibly involves the use of another stargate."

The General's eyes had sharpened now, and held that hint of steel that he was famous for. "I don't need you telling me what to do Colonel Sheppard and I'm well ahead of you in the game. We have been searching for these men, and will continue to do so, and I don't wish to put this young lady at any more risk than she already is. She will stay in Atlantis until we get some answers. As to the use of another stargate... you may not be too far off the mark there and if that is the case, then I'm assuming that they are operating under the umbrella of a very off the grid agency that they have likely been recruited for. And that would also lend to the likelihood that Miss Stevens here stumbled upon something she wasn't supposed to..."


	6. Chapter 6 Complications

CHAPTER 6 – COMPLICATIONS

John left Dani to rest for most of the day, wanting her mind to do it's own sorting of the fragments that were spinning through it. He spent a part of the day with the General, Elizabeth and the two IOA men, going over in careful detail, all the information they had to date.

Rodney joined them partway through their meeting, his hand held computer jiggling in front of him, looking as though he had overloaded on caffeine that day. "General, I've been thinking. You need to know the location for a second stargate on earth, and while you're assuming it's like looking for a needle in a haystack, actually – it's a little easier than that."

His excitement, as usual was either infectious or downright annoying, and fortunately for him, today it was the former. The General's eyes gleamed and he gave Rodney a smile. "Missed you back at the SGC old buddy... place was quiet without you for the past two years... Sam was actually pining away without you..."

"Really?" Rodney's voice held pathetic hope.

"Not a chance Rodney... you know that she and I...?" delicately leaving the sentence unfinished, he waited for Rodney to comprehend what he was saying.

"Are you serious General? You and Sam, I mean... you're a little older... than her." Voice trailing off as he realised he may just have insulted a General, he caught John's attempt to hide a grin.

"Ah yes Rodney, but she likes her men, to be men..." and he left Rodney with that thought and turned the conversation back to the stargate. "So, explain about finding the stargate..."

Rodney shook his head to clear the visions of his beloved Sam and the General, and pointed to his hand held. "You know that each time the stargate is activated on earth, the amount of energy it draws from the ZPM is enormous, and causes an energy spike that can be registerd from any place on the planet, if you know how to look for it, and what to look for."

"Ah Rodney, very good – I see where you are going with this. We set up a monitoring device, so to speak and track whether another gate on earth is activated. Very clever Rodney – I guess that's why you get paid the big bucks..."

"Big bucks? You must have the wrong person General, last time I looked at my bank account... well let's just say that all those years of school and two masters degrees... does not make Rodney a rich man!"

"Figuratively speaking Rodney..." General O'Neill pushed himself away from the table and indicated that they would be leaving. "We'll get back to earth and get the gate energy monitoring system set up – and as soon as we have something I'll let you know. You'll be going on a little offworld mission as soon as we have a location – I'm assuming that it's Pegasus based, given that the girl ended up here. We'll be in touch – Colonel."

John stood briefly out of respect, then collapsed back down on his seat once they had left, leaving him alone with Rodney. "Well... that was interesting." Rodney began. "Sam and the General... no way..."

"Rodney, for god's sake. They've been an item for years.. you were the only one that refused to see it. They couldn't act on it until she was out from under his command. Now that she's stationed at Area 51, all bets are off!"

"Oh..." was all Rodney had to say. "Why is the jilted boyfriend always the last to know?"

John laughed and shook his head. Rodney was indeed an arrogant son of a bitch and totally clueless about many social human interactions. Given all that though, he did have a soft spot for the scientist and felt a little remorse that he had to find out this way. "Plenty more fish out there...etc etc.." John clapped him on the back as he rose and went to leave the room.

"I hate platitudes Sheppard..."

"Yeah, I know Rodney. That's why I give them to you..."

John chose to visit Dani in the infirmary as soon as he had finished his own dinner, and found her sitting there quietly, talking with Carson while she nibbled on her own dinner. He noticed that she had eaten very little, and could see that Carson was attempting to encourage her to eat a little more.

"Hey Dani, sampling our base delights I see...?" smiling at her he took the seat that Carson had vacated upon hearing his voice. "Colonel, maybe you'll have a little more success that I at getting her to eat a little. I'm thinking that her stomach has rejected foot a little longer than is healthy these past few weeks, and we need to work especially hard to try and get that appetite back."

John picked up the somewhat dried bread roll that sat on her tray and grimaced. "Not exactly the sort of food that makes you want to get your appetite back... Give me a moment... I have the perfect solution." He jumped out of his seat and raced out of the room, and was back within minutes with a bag of popcorn in his hand. "Fresh off the last shipment from earth... who can't resist popcorn – eh?"

Opening the bag, the aroma of the buttered popcorn wafted into the infirmary and he waved it enticingly under her nose. She smiled and reached in to take a small handful, popping a piece into her mouth. "I do remember liking popcorn..."

"See?" John looked up at Carson and raised his eyebrows, but Carson did not look particularly amused. "Not exactly the nourishing meal I would have liked her to eat Colonel."

"Small steps doc, small steps... this may just get the appetite back."

They sat more or less companionably, chatting about inconsequential things, hoping something simple as innane conversation would help to bring back some of the memories. John told her a little about their life in Atlantis and in the Pegasus Galaxy and he noted that some of the colour had returned to her cheeks, especially after sampling a little of the pudding that was on the dinner tray. It seemed the lady had a weakness for junkfood, and John gave an inward grin, knowing that Carson would not be amused. When he noticed that she was beginning to tire, he stood up to go, brushing a hand across her cheek as he watched her long lashes flutter downwards and find the journey back up, just a little too much.

"Nite sweetheart. Sleep well." and left the infirmary feeling just a little disconcerted at the feelings he had whenever he held those gray eyes. A complication he certainly didn't need.


	7. Chapter 7 The Dark Side

Chapter 7 - The Dark Side

Three days passed before they had news from General O'Neill. During that time, Dani regained a little strength and with her ribs starting to heal, Carson let her out of the infirmary for short periods and John, despite his best intentions, was not generally far from her side. He told himself that it was because she seemed to be the most comfortable with him, still a little shy and uncertain around the rest of his team and other expedition members that she had met._Keep telling yourself that John, you'll come to believe it eventually.._.But the fact of the matter was, she had gotten under his skin more than just a little and when he closed his eyes at night, it was to see a pair of stormy gray ones looking back at him. No, he certainly did not need these complications.

After dinner on the second night, Ronan declared that it was movie night and that it was his turn to pick. At this everyone groaned, knowing that he would again, pick Star Wars, a movie that John had introduced him to when he first came to Atlantis from Sateda, a move that John, and everyone else on the base had come to regret. The Satedan had become obsessed with the movie, the story and the characters and had at first believed, that these were real - movies and TV were not part of his world and it took a lot of convincing on John's part to get him to believe that they were just ficticious characters in a ficticious galaxy.

Dani laughed when she heard that they would be watching Star Wars, a movie that she had grown up with and enjoyed herself and John's eyes lit up when he heard her laughter and the resulting sparkle in her eyes. It seemed she had begun to heal a little, in more ways than one.

One of the rec rooms had been set up as a movie/TV room, with a very large screen TV front and centre, and several comfortable varied style couches and armchairs, brought back at different times from earth by different team members. John chose his favourite couch where he would generally stretch out his long legs, but in deference to Dani, he sat, patting the seat beside him so that she could sit also. Hesitating just a little, she curled up beside him, tucking her legs up underneath her and leaned comfortably against his side, long hair spilling over his shoulder. Unfortunately causing his breath to hitch just a little... and concentration on the movie to be all but non existent. Ronan's amused glance sent his way caused him to scowl in return, but couldn't resist dropping his head slightly so that his cheek rested against her hair. So not a good idea...he thought to himself, but that did not stop his body from responding to her nearness and soon he had placed an arm around her and was drawing her closer, now curled up like a tiny cat on his lap, face tucked in under his chin, and felt the slow, comfortable breaths she took and knew that she had fallen asleep. Long after the movie had ended and they remained the only ones in the room, did he sit there... head resting back against the couch, thoughts spinning through his mind, his touch gentle on the fragile girl who curled up asleep in his lap.

And when news came from General O'Neill, he breathed a sigh of relief. They could move forward now, find tangible evidence of her past and make an attempt to find out who had beaten her so badly. John was ready for some payback.

John was called into the control room as soon as communication came through from General O'Neill. He opted for video communication rather than in person, and John listened intently to what they had managed to establish so far.

"Sam managed to trace an energy spike, the size of which would have been required to activate a stargate - took a bit of work to triangulate coordinates, but folks, guess what? There is indeed a second stargate on earth, and while we have no idea which government has operational jurisdiction over it, we did manage to track it's location to none other than Australia."

"Are you serious?" John ran a hand through his hair, spiking it into messy clumps. "Why Australia? And where the hell did it come from?"

"Ah Colonel, questions we have been unable to provide answers for thus far... But as to why Australia, there is a lot of remote land in the middle of that country, perfect for hiding something as large and conspicuous as a stargate. Anyway, the good news... at least I think it is... we've got teams on the ground there now and I sent Sam in to see if she can dig into the DHD to find last dialled gate address... guess what? There is no DHD... the little buggers obviously disconnect and take it with them when they go. Sam,being Sam... well not much phases that woman!... managed to organise a portable DHD of her own, and gentlemen, ladies.. I have a gate address for you. And yes Colonel, you win the prize... it is indeed in the Pegasus Galaxy. T8U297 - got that folks? Colonel - it's up to you to run with this one now."

"Yes sir - I'll organise a team to go as soon as we can. Sounds like it's opened a whole wriggling can of worms for you back on earth though... we're talking deep undercover agency or private organisation here... but my guess is agency, but which government? These men would have been available to the highest bidder."

"Leave that to us Colonel... I've got some good people working on that right now. Keep me posted. O'Neill out."

John huffed a breath as soon as the communication had closed down. The news was good, but the results of their search would herald a nasty surprise for Dani and could implicate an entire secret government agency or private organisation back on earth. Whatever these people were doing out here in this galaxy, he would wager a year's pay that it was not for the good of their planet.


	8. Chapter 8 Conspiracy

Chapter 8 – Conspiracy

Dani met them in the gate room as John was securing his tactical vest and checking his weapon before clipping it to his vest. He would take both a handgun in a leg holster and his P90, going in blind, they had no idea what to expect or how many personnel from earth were involved. Ronan, Teyla, Major Lorne and six marines would be going in with them and were all in vests and weapons ready, awaiting his order to dial the gate and move out.

"A piece of the puzzle John - does it help the bigger picture yet." her quiet voice stilled his hands as he finished checking the extra ammunition for the P90.

He turned to face her, eyes drawn to her smokey gray ones, now flecked with silver as they stared at him quizzically. "We have a gate address Dani, and Ted may be there... if he's the one who did this to you, I want you to know, I won't go easy on him." She moved closer to him so that he could smell the scent of her freshly washed hair, and he closed his eyes briefly, to take in the scent. Feeling a light touch on his arm, he looked down at her hand where it rested and resisted the urge to pull her in close. She did not however, and reaching up on tiptoes she wrapped her good arm around his neck, her broken arm sitting awkwardly at her side and leaned in molding her body to his and he had no choice but to bring his own arms around her to secure her against him and then of course that necessitated rubbing his cheek against her silky hair. A sensation not unlike quicksand clawed at him, and he released her suddenly, too suddenly so that she teetered off balance and he had to quickly reach out to anchor her again. He needed to get away from her so he could breathe, so gave a hand signal to the gate technician to begin the dialling sequence.

They arrived on T8U297, a planet far beyond their exploratory missions to date and they had managed to retrieve limited intelligence from the ancient database as to the conditions they would find on the planet. The terrain appeared mountainous, eliciting a few groans from the marines, but the climate was at least temperate so any climbing that needed to be done could be done so in optimum climatic conditions. There were no unwelcome surprises for them at the gate. They had stepped though weapons ready after the MALP had shown a clear entry point for them, and John issued instructions to four of the marines to secure a perimetre around the gate to await the return of any personnel who would try to leave the planet before they did. John took the remainder of the team and would commence a foot search of the vicinity. It was unlikely that transportation was available either on the planet, or to the men who had come through previously and this led to the assumption that whatever they had come here to do, it would be done within a reasonable trek from the gate.

A half hour's trek from the gate found no sign of any men, but they did find what had been hidden. In a prefabricated building, earth design in origin, they located a large weapons cache, including C4, P90's, submachine weapons, rocket launchers and hand grenades, all neatly stacked and stored. John shook his head. "There's enough munitions here to start a small war - I'm getting a bad feeling about what these guys are up to."

Ronan was running his eye over the weapons. "Why would they leave it all the way out here? This is an unpopulated planet." He picked up some of the C4. "Should we take it back with us."

John made a quick decision. "We leave everything as it is - we need to lay a trap, and cover our tracks in,make it look as though no one has been here. I doubt they're still on the planet, they must have either gated back to earth, or elsewhere."

"So, what the hell are they up to then?" Major Lorne was also looking around the munitions store, noting that some of the weapons were high tech and not all military issue.

John was nodding thoughtfully. "The thought crossed my mind that these guys were working independently, contracting out to a deep cover government branch, sort of guns for hire. It's a possibility that this agency has put out some feelers in this galaxy that if anyone needs a little heavy assistance in the way of weapons to tilt the scales in their favour so to speak, then a deal can be made - these guys are providing the muscle. A good little side line for them, and if they were pulled off a mission in Afghanistan to do this, then it reaches pretty damn high up."

Lorne spoke up. "And Dani must have overheard something, or seen something she shouldn't have."

"So why send her to Atlantis? Why not just kill her?" Ronan shook his head, still not able to comprehend how someone could do that to a woman.

"Perhaps one of the group did not agree with the way she was disposed of... they might be in too deep and not able to get out, and if they were told to take responsibility for getting rid of the body, took the opportunity to send her through to Atlantis, in the hope that we would save her and dig into her story to try and stop things."

"Her boyfriend, Ted? Could be he was feeling like it had all gotten out of hand - he'd be the most likely one to crack, especially if his girlfriend had gotten involved and was about to get hurt." Lorne tried to follow his own reasoning.

John was thoughtful. "Possibly. But he's not getting near her again... he's done, I don't care how much guilt he carries or whether it was even him that carried out the beating. He was a part of it by association, and I want his blood on my hands."

"You can count me in Sheppard. The man's a coward, and in my world, a coward meets a certain fate." Ronan's face was angry as he thought of the broken ribs and the weapons in front of them, now possibly being made accessible to small nations where the balance of war and natural progression into technology would be tipped in their favour and could change the outcome of many disagreements that would normally have been solved by talk and words alone.

"Colonel - what's the plan?" Lorne had finished his perusal of the munitions room and was ready to leave.

"Hopefully General O'Neill will have found enough intel to substantiate what we are only just guessing at for now. My suggestion would be to send out a little SOS of our own, say from a small nation that needs help with solving the disagreement between us and a neighbouring country. See what comes out of the woodwork. O'Neill should be able to track down a contact for this group, or if he can't I'm sure Ronan can put ears to the ground amongst some of his people and see if there is a new group out there bragging about guns for hire. We'll catch these bastards one way or another. They're not welcome in this galaxy or any other, and we'll stop them before it goes any further."

Casting one more look around the room, John carefully shut and locked the door again, and began the process of backtracking carefully to attempt to remove all noticeable signs of the fact that strangers had been there. He thought of Dani and what she must have gone through when they had discovered their little secret was in danger of being made public and felt a red shield of anger come down over his mind. Involuntarily his fist clenched. He would bring her retribution.


	9. Chapter 9 The Best Laid Plans

Chapter 9 – The Best Laid Plans

"You want to do what?" Elizabeth paced up and down her office. John had just filled her in on what they had discovered on the planet and she needed a minute to formulate all the information that had been thrown at her. "Do you think that's wise John? Wouldn't it be better for General O'Neill to track them from his end. If they keep surveillence on the stargate, they will eventually catch the men as they come through."

"That's all well and good Elizabeth, but we need to know how far reaching this is, and we need to catch them actually involved in one of their missions, assuming that General O'Neill manages to verify what we have so far only assumed. Getting just a few of them will only serve to scare them enough to go into hiding. We need to get them all."

Elizabeth gathered her notes together. "We'll wait until we have further communication from General O'Neill, and Ronan? Could you put your ears to the ground and do as the Colonel suggested and see if any new factions are making themselves known in the galaxy."

John left the office, intent on heading down to the gym. He needed a work out to clear his head, and some physical exercise would help him to organise his thoughts a little. Walking past an open balcony, he automatically turned his head towards the brisk breeze that blew in off the sea, and paused when he saw Dani standing out there, leaning over the railing, face turned out to sea. Watching her, he noted the slight smile on her face as though she was turned inward to where the thoughts were good and could help her forget some of the bad that had happened.

"Hey, you..." He spoke softly, not wanting to startle her and she turned, a tiny flicker of fear in her eyes that she quickly pushed away when she realised who it was.

"John... I was hoping to see you. Did you find the men? Were they on the planet as you hoped?" She moved away from the railing and came towards him and looked into his eyes searchingly, hoping to find the answer.

"We found a little more than we bargained for, but they were gone. We do, however, have a fair idea of what they are doing in this galaxy and we think that you must have somehow discovered what they were up to, threatened to expose them and they needed to get rid of you."

Seeing the sudden flash of pain that shot into her eyes, he softened his and moved towards her so that they were standing close and he could pick up her hands, gently squeezing some warmth into them, noting that they were cold. "You're freezing – it's far too cold out here for you to be standing around, come inside where it's warmer." He moved his hands further up her arms, and rubbed softly trying to infuse some warmth and he saw her shiver and knew that she had only just registered the cold air. "Come inside Dani..." Sliding his hand back down so that he could grasp her hand, he led her off the balcony into the warmth of the city.

Ronan discreet enquiries led to success and he left with John the next day to visit a planet near his homeworld of Sateda. A lot of business was done by the male's of the settlement and it was done over the local equivalent of beer, and lot's of it. Seated in the local tavern, tall, handled mugs full of the frothy ale in front of them, they were at a table with two local men who were well on the way to becoming more than just a little drunk. However drunk was good, it meant that they were likely to retrieve more information, so John lifted his mug high in the air and ignoring Ronan's amused smile and raised eyebrow, he chugged back most of the mug, wiping the froth from his mouth and eliciting a loud manly burp. Sometimes, it was good to be a man!

John let Ronan do the talking, which was a good thing really, because the ale had spread more than it's share of warmth through him. His mug was refilled several times and he noticed that Ronan continued to drink, and in larger quantities than him, but it did not appear to have any effect on him.

"Friends... you are most welcome here. State your business...!" Another manly burp, more manly laughter and more ale, and John was feeling a little numb and suspecting he would be in more than just a little trouble when he arrived back on Atlantis.

Ronan's voice was a loud rumble and John found this amusing, smiling a rather silly smile. "We seek men to assist us. Our neighbours wish to mine more than their share of minerals. We had an agreement and they are not honouring it. Talking no longer works. Word is out that you may know of a group that can assist... with a more deadly force..."

Raucous laughter and lots of backslapping. John heard the answer but it was amusing, so he began to laugh and a corner of his sane mind hoped that Ronan at least, had remained sober enough to get the information they required.

He was only partially aware of the trip back to the stargate. Understood that it must have been amusing, because there was considerable laughter, but John had the distinct impression that most of Ronan's laughter was directed at him.

"What the hell is in that brew Ronan... cause I am in serious trouble when I get back to Atlantis... Lizabeth's gonna give me a severe... telling off..." this caused more laughter, more backslapping.

"Can't handle drinking with the big boys eh Sheppard? Stick to your milk and cookies my friend, that stuff is for men only..." John stopped then, giving Ronan a firm look and felt the need to punch him in the stomach, but the rustling of bushes around them caused his training to kick in, regardless of the alcohol he had consumed and he dropped immediately into defensive mode.

The two men from the tavern came out of the bushes, along with two more and there was a piece of paper in their hands. "We've found someone who will be able to help you with your... problem. Here's the gate address. You'll meet with him tomorrow at midday. Just the two of you, bring no weapons and don't be late. He's not a man you want to piss off." Pushing the paper into Ronan's hand the four men blended back into the bushes and John found he had sobered up, just a little.

"Ok Ronan, looks like we got what we came here for, let's go back to Atlantis."

While Ronan dialled the gate, John rested lightly against the DHD, not looking forward to the trip through the gate. At the best of times, the wormhole was an extreme ride in itself, mind wretching, gut churning and downright adrenalin filled – and that was sober. Somehow he had the distinct feeling that fuelled by alcohol, this trip would not be a pleasant one.

And he wasn't wrong... He was spat out the other side with a churning stomach and rolled over on the gate room floor groaning, doing his utmost best not to throw up. Ronan, lacking in any sort of sympathy, hauled him to his feet and watched him list slightly, like a boat in a storm.

"John? What the hell is going on?" Elizabeth stood before them, not looking particularly impessed, the fumes from the alcohol almost sufficient to set the base alight if a match was ever held in their vicinity.

"Undercover ops Elizabeth... had to blend in with the locals..." Ronan attempted to stand up for his friend.

"Blend in, or soak in... Jesus John, you reek – for God's sake, go have a cold shower and sober yourself up."

John held an imperious finger up. "Just what I had in mind...Lizzbeth.. say, where's Dani?"

Elizabeth frowned at him, flicking a cautionary glance to Ronan. "Not a good time to go looking for her right now Colonel Sheppard."

"Wait!" John kept his finger in the air. "We have a meeting tomorrow, with the leader.. not a waste of time. Contact made, meeting in place, a few jugs of ale... life's good..." Ronan quirked an eyebrow at Elizabeth and told her, "I'll haul him off to his quarters, then come back and fill you in."

She nodded, looking after them with a worried look on her face.

Ronan kept John upright and hauled him down the hallway toward his quarters. Passing the mess, John dug his heels in and announced loudly that he wanted "coffee", and would Ronan mind if they had a little detour. Thinking a sobering coffee would likely be a good thing, he steered him through the door, one hand still holding John's collar and promptly walked headlong into Dani, who yelped in pain as they connected with her healing ribs.

John blinked at her in slight confusion. "God, so sorry Dani... clumsy. Was gonna come see you later. Come have coffee with us..."

Peering up at him, Dani couldn't suppress the grin that came to her face. "A little drunk it would seem, John."

"Nothing a little coffee and a pretty woman won't fix...did I tell you that you are pretty?" John clutched her hand a little tightly as they made their way to the coffee machine, causing her to wince a little. "Ah no, John, you didn't, and you don't need to … really. Maybe some extra caffeine in your cup would be a good idea."

"John, behave... or tomorrow you're going to have a few regrets that you don't really want to have – understand my friend?" Ronan was looking John in the eye, trying to get a message through to his alcohol fuelled brain, and John nodded enthusiastically. "Behaving.. Ronan, yes I am. Now Dani, where were we... did I tell you that you are pretty, really really pretty, and I kind of want to kiss you right now..." Dani shot a helpless glance at Ronan, who grinned and shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't exactly saying anything he didn't mean, just perhaps not the place or time to say it.

"Maybe I'll leave you both to finish your coffee – John, Ronan – I hope you both manage a good night's sleep and that your head is still attached to your body in the morning John..." With a small grin on her face, she rose, lightly running a hand over John's unruly hair and his gaze shot hotly to hers and he found his body rising of it's own accord and following her out of the mess. Ronan shook his head – John was a big boy and he was through babysitting.

"Dani, wait..." Turning, she saw him weaving slightly as he left the mess and follow her down the hallway. Knowing this was not a good idea, she did pause, waiting until he caught up with her and held her breath as he placed his hands around her waist to pull her back slightly against him.

"Not a good idea John..."

He felt the backs of her thighs against the front of his and could not resist lowering his head to inhale the scent of her hair. "Tis a very good idea..."

"One you'll regret in the morning John, let me go..."

"One kiss... just one, then I'll go... just one." He didn't wait for her answer, just turned her around in his arms and lowered his head before she could push him away. Her mouth opened in surprise and he took that opportunity to slant his mouth over hers, feeling the softness of her lips and the moistness of her mouth and his tongue swept inside and lightly acknowledged hers. Still she did not push away and he deepened the kiss, now fisting his hands in her hair and hearing a groan, knew that it came from him. She pushed him away then and backed away from him with stricken eyes, turning around to run towards her temporary quarters. John was left standing in the hallway, self loathing in his eyes and not a small measure of swearing rolling comfortably off his lips.


	10. Chapter 10 The Seeds are Sown

CHAPTER 10 – THE SEEDS ARE SOWN

_Ok John, so the head is still attached to the body... just..._ Groaning, he rolled over in bed and hung his head in his hands. And rememebered why it was so important not to overindulge in the alcolohic delights of this galaxy as unfortunately they brewed their own particular alcohol with no regard for percentages, government warnings or human beings and their seeming lack of control.

It was going to be a long day.

Three coffees later and he still sat in the mess. subconsciously waiting for Dani to arrive, preferring to avoid her today, but acknowledging that approaching this particular apology early in the day would make the remainder of the day seem a little less bleak. He saw her hesitate when she entered the mess, slant a stormy gaze in his direction, straighten her shoulders before grabbing a cup of coffee herself and joining him.

Ok, so there was a small smile on her lips... that was a good start. "I'd ask how you were feeling, but it's clearly written in both your body language and that rather hangdog look on your face." Her smile widened just a little, and he thought to himself _if she gets a little pleasure out of my misery, then maybe she'll not focus on the... other... thing that happened last night..._

"Yep sweetheart! An undercover mission that went a little awry... best laid plans etc etc. And about last night... I want to apologise..." His eyes searched hers now, looking for a clue as to how she was really feeling.

There was warmth in her gray eyes, so he heaved a sigh of relief. Yeah, he had wanted to kiss her, and the urge had been a pretty strong one, but sometimes it paid not to give in to your urges until you were sure they were not going to get in the way of the bigger picture. But damned if he could remember what the bigger picture was.

"It was a kiss John... that's all – and I overreacted so I should be the one apologising." She put her good, uncasted hand across the table close to his. "Friends?" _Just that for now Dani, sure... but later, we'll see..._ The thought flickered like smoke across his mind, but he made himself smile at her and picking up the hand she offered, have it the required shake, but could not resist bringing it up to his lips to give it a small kiss. "Sure, Dani – friends it is..."

Ronan flopped down in the empty seat beside John accompanied by Teyla and a massive pile of food that defied any normal human being to consume it. But Ronan had the appetite of more than one healthy man. "Hey Ronan – ready for our meeting today?"

Ronan chose not to mention John's lack of sobriety the previous night, but the twinkle in his eye showed John that it was not forgotten. Teyla however, held no such compunctions. "You look as you did the night you had too much Ruus wine to drink. You are feeling unwell this morning John?"

"A little under the weather Teyla, nothing I can't handle. Did Ronan tell you about our meeting today. We've made contact with the group we think is doing a little independant war contracting in the galaxy... we're hoping we can follow the trail to lead to the higher ups, the group on earth that is reponsible for their formation."

"Are you not worried about being recognised when you go to this meeting John? How do you know that they have not been given intel on the people from earth who reside in Atlantis so that they can avoid them." Teyla was concerned that their plan had not been given careful consideration.

"We have it covered Teyla. I'm going in as a Satedan with Ronan... we've got a cover story in place and as far as they will know, we are from a small country where a group of Satedan's settled after their planet was destroyed, up until now we have enjoyed a relatively peaceful existence with the neighbouring settlement, but a disagreement over mining rights has necessitated a more extreme minded mediator to come in and resolve our problems... and so forth..."

Teyla was nodding. "A good plan John, but what if they insist on being given the coordinates for your planet – they may wish to send their own reconaissance team in prior to their mediation."

"Got that covered too Teyla – rememebr P2R398?" Teyla thought back briefly, then recalled the small farming community that had had problems with their crops the previous year. The Lantian's had sent in their scientists to determine that a bacteria growth was affecting their whole crop supply for the year and had worked to find a herbicide that would work against the offending bacteria. They had effectively saved their entire crop and they now owed Atlantis a debt of gratitude.

"Elizabeth is contacting them this morning to advise them that we need that favour... she is going to establish a cover story with them. There is a suitable area for mining there, so it will appear authentic if they send in a team to scout – and I would expect them to do so, particularly as they are military trained."

Teyla looked a little concerned. "Are you worried that you are endangering these people by exposing them to this group. If things get out of hand, then the people of this settlement could get hurt. They are not fighters, and would suffer greatly at the hands of someone who is."

Dani was getting a little agitated, and now spoke up. "These men... this man, that I was involved in – I can't believe that they would go to these lengths? What do they achieve by doing this? And why out here, in another galaxy?"

John realised that he had yet to release her hand and had been softly rubbing the back of it with his thumb. He now took it down to this lap, this gesture however, brought a frown to Teyla's face and he knew he would have to face her questions and possibly recriminations later.

"Money Dani, will be the motivating factor. That, and power. Small scale wars such as what they intend to incite, cannot really be done on earth without someone stepping in to stop it. We are one planet, with many governements and limited resources. Out here... it is limitless for them. Resources that we can only dream of on earth, artifacts, technology – it is endless and they do this for payment, working for a group who's greed exceeds the planet they live on. And by the way... Elizabeth had a communication from General O'Neill last night and he confirmed that at least ten military officers have fallen off the grid in the past six months and their families think they are involved in a normal black ops – but all have received large payments of money in that time and their friends and families when interviewed confirm that they have undergo dramatic personality changes. Gate travel and promoting galaxy wide war is a heady thing it would seem."

Major Lorne had just walked past with his breakfast, and sitting down to join them, caught the tail end of John's explanation. "I've just come from the control room Colonel. Elizabeth had the list and photos of all the military personnel that are confirmed on the suspect list. She wants us all to go through the photos carefully, memorise faces. And Colonel... one of them? Air force major. Major Ray Larson... ring any bells?"

"Crap!" John ran a hand through his hair and he felt Dani squeeze his other hand lightly. "We did a mission together in Afghanistan before I got involved in the stargate programme. I haven't seen him since I left earth... damn it! He's a decent guy, with a family, kids...why the hell would he compromise what he has?"

"What sort of security clearance does he have Colonel? Does he know about the stargate programme – would he know you're out here?" Lorne put down the toast he was about to take a bite of.

"Ordinarily, I would say no – to the clearance thing anyway. But whoever this group is, they do have clearance, whether it's official or unofficial clearance, so the soldiers that are contracting to them must be privy to the same information. I'm hoping that doesn't include a list of personnel who are in the stargate programme, or we could have problems. Especially if he is the one we are meeting today."

"You want backup today Colonel. Put a team on the planet before they arrive?" Breakfast forgotten now, Lorne sat forward eagerly.

"Could be tricky Lorne... they'll do doing the same thing I'm sure and the gate will be guarded – if anyone other than the two of us comes through, there'll be problems. Unless..."

"What is it Colonel – you've got that look in your eye... the one that says I get to do something really cool..." Lorne grinned now – life with his commanding officer was generally far from dull, his something unordodox plans and solutions for problems were a constant source of excitement and this was certainly what he had signed on for when he came to the Pegasus Galaxy.

John couldn't resist a short laugh at the delighted look in his subordinate officer's eyes. "Down, boy... but you're right, you will get to do something cool. Take four marines with you, take a jumper, they'll be watching the stargate but not the skies... cloaked of course, and set it down well away from the meeting place and give us a bit of friendly cover should things go south."

"Onto it Colonel..." quickly finishing his toast, he took his tray, flipped a quick salute and left the mess. John released Dani's hand and stood up also. "Ok Ronan, I'll be needing some attire my friend, something more "Satedan" in design, then we need to go and check out those pictures. Dani, come with us to look at the pictures also – they may be others that you recognise." He reached again for her hand, pulling her up and out of the mess with him. Teyla shook her head slightly. He had no idea he was heading down a path not of his choosing at the moment.


	11. Chapter 11 Meeting With The Enemy

CHAPTER 11 – MEETING WITH THE ENEMY

The ten photos were spread out over one of the tables in the control room. Dani stood in front of John, and his hand lightly skimmed her hip, preparing her for possible recognition. John had recognised two of the men, which mean't that they could also recognise him and he carefully filed that information away, knowing he would have to be extremely careful at their meeting today.

She felt a small ripple go through her body at his touch. Unsure how she felt about his seemingly constant need to be near her, while she found comfort in his touch, she was not ready to acknowledge that she felt anything more, so quickly sought to push any such feelings away. He was a friend, and had shown her kindness after whatever ordeal she had gone through. _A pyschologist would have a field day with me..._ she thought to herself and recalled that Elizabeth had mentioned yesterday, that she would like her to see Dr Heitmeyer in an effort to try and open up some of the buried memories. _Soon..._ she told herself.

Dani's hand rested on the picture of the man she had supposedly been involved with. His picture invoked a measure of fear in her, she knew somehow, that in those last moments, minutes, or even hours with this man, he had not shown her kindness, but had caused her to fear and had been either the direct or indirect result of what she had gone through.

"I can't bring up what I am supposed to feel for him... that scares me. How can I have loved someone, lived with them? And now feel nothing..." She covered her eyes with a hand and John's pressure on her hip increased slightly in sympathy. "I recognise some of these other men, but not names... I think they were at our house sometimes... there's something at the corner of my mind... just like little fingers that tease. Something happened at our house – when I shut my eyes, I can't even visualise where I lived, but something bad happened, and these men are a part of it..."

John turned her so that she was facing him, and pulled her into an embrace as much to give comfort, as take her gaze away from the photos that were causing her pain. Her hand rubbed along the rough fabric of the Satedan clothing he now wore. Ronan had outfitted him so that he no longer held the polish of an airforce Colonel, but the more peasant style clothing, combined with the lack of shaving this morning, gave this man a more menacing air. "It's ok Dani.. we'll find out what happened to you. When I get back, you're going to see Dr Heitmeyer, no arguments... she can try hypnosis to try and pull up some of those memories."

Looking over the top of her head to Elizabeth and Ronan, he raised his eyebrows. "Ready to to this Ronan? You take the lead on this one... can't have the wrong thing coming out of my mouth at the wrong time, eh?" Pushing Dani gently away from him now, he tapped her nose lightly with a finger. "Be good kiddies, while we're away." and left the room behind Ronan, walking with an exagerated walk in an effort to imitate Ronan's swagger that brought a giggle to Dani and a smile to Elizabeth's face and had her shaking her head.

All humour was pushed aside as they exited the stargate on the planet that had been set aside for the planned meeting. Knowing that Lorne and his marines were somewhere in the vicinity, hopefully well hidden and thus far undetected by the backup people for the man they would be meeting today, brought a small measure of satisfaction and John hoped that the meeting would come off as planned and they would get at least some, of the information that they needed.

Ronan and John did not talk as they waited for their appointment to arrive. They had left all weapons behind as per instructions and John felt extremely underprotected and a trifle naked without his P90 and hand gun. They never went offworld without them.

A throat being cleared got their immediate attention, and a tall man in leather garments stepped out of the bushes, sub machine gun in his hands and trained on them. Without appearing to strutinise him too closely, John was able to ascertain that he was indeed one of the men in the photos they had seen earlier and fortunately, he was not one that could possibly have recognised him. John noted that he had dressed in the clothing more natural to that worn in this galaxy and the only sign that he came from earth, was the submachine gun that he held.

"You boys looking for a little assistance I hear..." His drawl was straight from Texas and John fought to suppress a grin. No hiding that accent, even out here...

Ronan nodded briefly. "We have it on authority that you can provide solutions to certain... problems..."

"That we can... of course before we accept any such assignment, we'll need to check you and your settlement out thoroughly. Then method and payment can be discussed." He lowered the weapon slightly, having ascertained, either through his own observations or some form of silent communication from the men that were no doubt watching them, that John and Ronan provided no threat at this stage.

Ronan lounged negigently, sharp eyes taking in the man's gestures and nuances and filing them away for later reference. On his planet of Sateda, he had been a Specialist, a ranking officer in the military equivalent of his own country, and one of the best soldiers that John had ever worked with. The man was trained beyond the best, in arm to arm combat and possessed superior weapon and tracking skills.

Ronan took a few seconds before he spoke. "That can be arranged. But you'll need to come in under some sort of cover. Some people in my governing body do not agree with my decision to approach your group, and of course, we do not wish to tip the hand of the ones who we wish to have the lesson given to."

"Don't you worry yourself about that... we can blend in anywhere. Our work comes with the highest guarantee and references, although I'm sure you know all about that or you wouldn't be at this meeting now."

Ronan handed over a paper with the planet's coordinates and a map showing how to get to the settlement. Taking it and flicking his eye over it quickly, he pushed it down into a pocket on his vest and held out a hand to Ronan to shake. "Tomorrow then, same time. I'll have myself and five other men and we'll do a thorough recon of what needs to be done. We're simple traders from a neighbouring planet, that's all, if anyone asks."

"No weapons?" Ronan's eyes flickered to the submachine gun in the other man's hand.

"They'll be discreetly hidden my friend, have no fear. Let us do our job, and you do yours." 


	12. Chapter 12 Unlocking The Doors

Chapter 12 - Unlocking The Doors

"I've got General O'Neill on video transmission Colonel - he has something for you." Elizabeth spared them barely a glance as they stepped through the gate back into Atlantis and with a shrug at Ronan, John followed her up to the control room.

"By the way... the meeting went well... nice of you to ask." John's saracasm was not lost on Elizabeth and she touched his shoulder as he passed her to enter the control room.

"Sorry John, a little distraction by way of General O'Neill... this whole thing is turning out to be worse than what we thought." Curious now, John went straight to the video screen where an impatient General O'Neill was seen drumming his hands on the table in front of him.

"You couldn't have moved a little faster Colonel? Kinda waiting here..." A little taken by the look on the General's face and his obvious impatience, John's sometimes inappropriate humour leapt to the forefront before he could control it.

"Got here as fast as we could General... wormhole, another planet... you know how it goes. Next time, I'll take my cape, word has it that superman flies faster than a speeding bullet..." Huffing a breath and already regretting his outburst he spared a quick glance at Elizabeth who was fighting to cover a smile, but did manage to attempt to look sternly at him.

"I beg your pardon Colonel?" and John had the good grace to drop his eyes and shuffle a little on the spot looking for all the world like a rather naughty child.

"Sorry General... slip of the tongue. The gang's all here now, and we would be most honoured to hear what you have to say."

"You're digging yourself a damn hole Sheppard. No wonder we sent you to Atlantis, no damn respect at all. You're lucky that I actually LIKE you, or perhaps I'd find another galaxy to send you to... somewhere far, far away." But he was smiling as he said it, truth he told, he had a soft spot for Sheppard, and the kid certainly reminded him of himself at the same age. All guts, no glory and a mouth that wouldn't know when to shut up. Hard to get angry at someone who was more or less a carbon copy of yourself. "Anyway... to business. And you'll want to hear what I have to say, because this is a doozy!"

John pulled up a chair to seat himself a little more comfortably. "I'm all ears General."

"We've tried to be as discreet with our digging around as we could and while I can't get names yet, I've traced it back to US Government, possibly as high up as Vice President, though we cannot confirm or deny that as yet. We're talking an agency within an agency within an agency... deep down as it gets. From what we can pick up, they are contracting this group of ten soldiers out as 'soldiers of fortune' just as you surmised, payment though.. that's the doozy. They're only after mineral, any kind they can get. It's not being brought back to earth immediately,but stored off world and we've not been able to get that location. Then being auctioned off to overseas private organisations, to the highest bidder. Now, some of this mineral, is weapons grade ore, as I'm sure you're aware, so we've got nuclear capability in the hands of private organisations, in countries where we certainly don't want that sort of power to grow. Getting my drift Colonel?"

John had slumped down slightly in his seat and casting a glance at Ronan, saw that he appeared a little confused. Earth politics would be a bit beyond him. 'Oh yeah General, consider your drift gotten - well and truly. Have you still got eyes on the second stargate?"

"Roger that Colonel, and so far whoever activated it two days ago, has not returned through it, nor has there been any other activation. Looks like they remain offworld for long periods of time. My suggestion - we'll keep digging at this end, and you go ahead with the recon you have scheduled for tomorrow. This is far reaching and we need to catch all the players. Has Dani been able to provide any further info?"

"On my agenda for this afternoon General. I'm going to take her to see Dr Heitmeyer, see what sort of memories she had help dig up for her." John rose from his chair, assuming that the communication was about to come to an end. "Might just get into my own clothes... this fabric is itchy... don't know how you stand it Ronan?" The big man grinned and made a muttered reference under his breath about John's likely lack of manhood, earning him a swift punch in the stomach as John walked past.

Once more comfortably attired in his own clothes, John tapped on the door to Dani's private quarters, having been temporarily moved in there after being cleared to leave the infirmary. It slid open under his hand command after he heard her request to come in, and found her curled up in a chair out on balcony, the light breeze, lifting her long hair softly off her face. She was gazing out to sea, and turned now to acknowledge him with a smile. "You look out there John,and wouldn't guess that you were in another galaxy... it is the same as earth, at least the bits that I can remember. It's peaceful here, I know I don't feel fear and when I think of earth, that is all I feel. I don't want to go back there, I don't want to confront whatever it is that sent me here." The calmness she had shown when enjoying the sea breeze promptly left, and she arose to pace the balcony, suddenly agitated as unwanted thoughts began to creep into her mind.

"Hey there, calm down... we're not going to let anything bad happen to you... hell, I'm not going to let anything happen to you full stop. You need to believe that Dani."

"Damn it John, I feel like a coward though, hiding here. I can give you what you need, at least enough to help you - and it's all locked up here." She tapped her head sharply, angry at herself now. Coming up behind her he tugged on a long lock of her hair, gently, just enough to still her agitated movements and to get her to turn around to face him. "Do you trust me Dani?" He looked at her intently as though he could will the answer he wanted to hear.

"You know I do John, hell at this point, you're the only one I can trust, the only one I know who didn't do this to me..." she brought her hand up to the bruising on her cheek and he took her hand away and put his own there. "Come with me to see Dr Heitmeyer, she's trained in hypnosis and I think that will be enough to break down the barrier your mind has put up to shut out all the bad stuff." Her gray eyes calmed to silver and he found himself mesmerised by them, drawing his other hand to her face and dropping his head so that he could lightly touch her lips. Just a light touch this time, not wanting her to run and he made himself pull back and groaned. "I'm not going to apologise for that... hell, I needed to do that." She had dropped her eyes and he used the pressure of his hands that still rested on her cheeks, to pull her gaze back up to his. "I'll back off, just a bit, you need answers, hell, we need answers - but I want to spend a little time chasing these feelings I'm having... you ok with that?"

Her soft smile encouraged him and he grinned in reply, heart just a little lighter. Hell yeah, something to look forward to ..

Kate Heitmeyer was welcoming as they entered her rooms, but John could feel the reluctance in Dani's posture, mostly because it was pressed firmly against the side of his own body where she had unwittingly plastered herself as soon as she had entered the room._She doesn't make it easy for me to __back off, even a little bit_ he thought, with just a touch of humour, and decided it was because he was the only one she felt non threatened by at this point. But enjoying the touch of her, even in this way, he thought that he would happily take whatever he could get at this point.

"Sit down Dani, on the couch over there. I can see that while you've agreed to come here, you're afraid and very tense, and I want you to be relaxed and 100% comfortable with what I am going to do before I do it. Now, John? Are you staying here with her?" She manoevered Dani toward the couch and at her imploring look as she left his side, he shrugged his shoulders at Kate, attempting to show a casualness he most certainly did not feel. "If that's what the lady wants... happy to comply. Dani?"

Her response was to hold out her hand, and relieved, he took it, following her over to the couch and sitting down beside her so that their thighs brushed and he felt her relax automatically at the touch of his body. He noticed that Kate frowned slightly at the contact, catching John's eye and giving him an assessing once over. He had spent more than his share of time in the presence of Dr Kate Heitmeyer, in a professional capacity of course, and knew that those clear blue eyes of hers saw everything and missed nothing. He gave her a slight shrug, but she obviously saw something in his eyes that satisfied her, so relaxed back into her own chair to begin the session.

Talking for a while about Dani's childhood, John learned that she had one older brother and no living parents, and had grown up in small town in Iowa. She had gained a political science degree and moved to Washington DC to take up an internship with one of the parties and was later to become a personal aide to one of the more influentual senators. John mentally filed these facts away, the information that she had been immersed in the political scene was significant and would likely prove to be an important piece of the puzzle. Once she had established a base line and found a comfortable place to which Dani could return, she took her under. It was quick, one minute she was reminiscing about childhood occurences and the next minute her eyes were wide and staring, and her voice changed and became uncertain and frightened. John picked up the hand that rested lightly on her leg and took it onto his own thigh, keeping it firmly trapped.

"Ok Dani, we've come to the point in your life, where what is familiar is starting to become blurred. Can you see the curtain that has come down over everything that has happened during these past six months? It's like a net curtain, that is opaque and doesn't allow the viewer to see through it clearly." She waited until she received Dani's nod. "You put that curtain there Dani, you hung it up because something bad happened and your mind didn't want to think about it any more. I'm going to tell you something, and I want you to believe that what I speak is the truth. Those things behind that curtain? They can't hurt you anymore. They've already happened, they're just memories now and if you get scared, John is sitting right beside you - can you feel his touch?" John tightened his grip just a little to reassure her that he was there and he felt her thigh shift a little closer to his in response.

Kate took a deep breath, wanting to tread carefully so that they could extract the information with the least amount of pain to Dani. "I want you to reach out and pull back the curtain, just a little, like you're going to take a little peak, then you can put it back again." Not wanting to give her too many instructions, she waited. Dani's eyes had shut now and she put her head back against the couch and her body had started to shake, just a little. 'Ok Dani, remember that calm place we talked about, with the good feelings? The lake you used to visit as a child. Look behind you, see it there, it's just a little way away - if you get really scared, you just have to take a step, and your toes are curling into the warm sand. Ok?"

The shivering did not stop, and John cast wary eyes at Kate, who nodded briefly at him, signifying that she was ok. "The curtain Dani,just reach out and pull it back a little... the lake is right behind you, just a step away."

Both John and Kate knew the moment that she reached out and pulled back the curtain,because her face changed to one of fear, and she collapsed then, pulling her hand from John's and curling in a ball, whimpering with fear. "Don't hit me anymore... I'll destroy it, I promise, please! There's only the one copy and if you let me go I'll get it and destroy it. Please don't hit me anymore..." she threw up her arm to cover her face.

"Dani!" Kate's voice was urgent now. "Who is hitting you. Look at his face and tell me his name."

"I can't! It hurts, I can't breathe.. oh God, he's kicking me and something just cracked inside me... I can't breathe. Please make him stop." John was gathering her into his arms, and casting an angry look at Kate, but Kate just shook her head.

"Dani! Look at his face. You need to say his name."

"Damn it - it'... God, he's supposed to be his friend, my friend? I can't breathe."

"Yes you can Dani. It's just a memory, it's not happening again. Breathe. In, out... another one...see... you can do it." She attempted to get off the couch now, but both the remembered and actual pain of her broken ribs had her collapsing slightly and John trapped her body against his own and lowered her back down to the couch.

"Dani - I need you to look around the room where you are being held. Do you see anyone else there? Is there another person in the room?" Dani attempted to take long shuddering breaths and her hand felt cold and clammy. "He's stopped kicking me now, he thinks I'm nearly dead... he's talking to someone, but he's standing in the shadows. I can't see his face."

"Dani - the shadows aren't real, not really. Picture a spotlight in your hand and you're aiming in into the shadows so that you can see his face. I need you to see his face!" Kate's voice was urgent now as she sensed they were about to make a breakthrough and John felt a surge of anger that she was being used in this manner, both then, and now to achieve the ends and means for someone else. She was sobbing now, clearly terrified and on the brink of collapse, and Kate knew that she would have to pull her out soon. "I see him, he's walking toward me now. There are two more men... oh God, one is Ted, Ted? How could he do this to me? He told me loved me, he told me we would be married. He's looking down at me, his eyes are cold... like death. And that is where I am nearly... he thinks I don't see him, but my eyes are not quite shut and I see his face. Cold, dead eyes - the eyes of a killer. There's another man - he's not happy and starts yelling at Ted. I know him. Oh God, I know him. Michael Rowan."

Before she could let the shock set in, Kate quickly brought her out, locking eyes with John who held tightly to Dani for just a moment, then pushed away in anger to move over to the wall, smashing his fist against it as he swore. "The damn vice president of the United States. O'Neill was right." He leaned back against the wall and furiously scrubbed a hand across his eyes and down his face, then looked over at the couch, where Dani lay back, eyes now shut, breathing calm. "She's out?"

"Very lightly under, I put the suggestion for her to sleep... I didn't want her coming out straight away to that memory, better it takes a little while to filter through. There's more John, a hell of a lot more, but it will take a while to get through it all. She's been through a lot, I'm not surprised her mind shut everthing out - betrayal, both personal and on a professional level - my God, the US Vice President, that's huge." Kate ran her own hands over her eyes, suddenly exhausted at what she had seen in Dani's mind. "Take her back to her quarters John, I'll bring her right out in a minute. She'll need rest, and support, lot's of it."

"Onto it Kate - though I'm sure you've pretty much worked out how I feel." He cast a sideways glance at her and saw her smile. "You're are a little transparent Colonel Sheppard. But a small word of warning – she's fragile right now, as I'm sure you're aware, so tread carefully because if you don't you will leave footsteps behind and you'd better be sure that is what you want to do. For both your sakes."


	13. Chapter 13  Reconaissance

Chapter 13 Reconnaissance

She'd come out of it a little easier than he had thought. Quiet though, and sad, sad eyes and he wanted, more than anything, to plant his fist in the face of the men who did this to her. He hadn't really known what to say to her, walking with her down the hallway back to her quarters, she had not reached out for him, and he had kept his hands in his pockets, thinking she needed just a little distance from it all.

He ran his hand lightly down her hair as she walked past him into her quarters and he hesitated at the door. "I'm going to get you something to eat Dani, and I'll bring it back, you'll be ok for a few minutes?" She didn't answer, just turned those sad gray eyes towards him and he was lost, burying his face in her hair as he felt the chip that had been made in the dam, begin to weaken further and finally break and knew that the only thing he could do right now was hold her.

At some point he'd moved, simply picking her up and taking her over to the bed, intending to lay her there knowing sleep would help. Instead he found himself following her down, and when she moved against him, fitting her body against his, he had to grit his teeth to stop the pure surge of desire that shot through him. The agony of lying there, his body on fire, knowing that sleep would not come, then the surprise of waking in the early hours of the morning, knowing that sleep had indeed come with the cool breeze of the ocean coming through the still open balcony doors carrying the scent of salt and seaweed to find that he was feeling more rested than he had felt in a long time. And that a pair of sombre gray eyes were looking back at him,a little sleepily and a little surprised and that the hand belonging to those rather sexy gray eyes were in fact under his shirt and spanned across his stomach, dangerously close to an area that really did not need any encouragement at the moment.

"Morning... at least I think it is..." he grasped her wrist then, and gently drew her hand away. She was not emotionally ready for this, and when it did happen, there would only be the two of them in the bed, not the ghost of a man who had hurt her so badly.

"Hey..." and she nuzzled into his neck, all warm curves and silken hair and that made his stomach clench also, but in a good way. His stomach rumbled loudly then, in hunger this time and remembered that neither of them had eaten last night and he heard her soft laughter and he rose out of the bed, grateful at least that he could fulfill at least one of his hungers.

Dressed again in the Satedan clothes, he met Ronan in the gate room. They had conferenced with General O'Neill for part of the morning and filled him in on what had been discovered through Dani's hypnosis. The General had been quiet for some time upon hearing the news and when he did speak, there was disappointment in his voice.

"When something this vile reaches to those levels of power, it makes you wonder why the hell we do this. What good are we doing in the world, in the universe, if it can be overridden, taken away, but the darkness and greed of one group of people. It makes me sick people, and makes me ashamed to be from this world."

It was Elizabeth who had answered him. "Well General, we can stop them, and set such an example to them that it is not done again. Yes, there is a dark side to humanity,but there is also good, and we'll focus on that for now."

Ronan and John waited for the stargate to dial up, ready for their recon meeting. Elizabeth and a team of marines had been to the planet yesterday afternoon to set up their cover story so that when the meeting took place, it would all as they expected. John fingered his weapon, waiting for the dialling procedure to be completed and the wormhole established so that they could step through. He felt that familiar lick of nervousness in the pit of his belly, that he usually felt just before a mission - gave him a sense of good luck so to speak, and asssured him that his adrenalin was running on high. Just before they stepped through, Ronan gave him a hooded look. "A little bird had you leaving a certain set of quarters in the early hours of this morning. Something you wanna tell me?"

"No damn privacy on this base Ronan... and FYI, nothing happened. Not that it's any of your business."

"Maybe not, but I'd hate to see the lady get hurt again...Just saying..."

John's anger fired up. "You really think I'd do something that low... hell, I'm no animal Ronan."

"Had to be said, given your track record around here with the ladies... love em and leave em Sheppard... not exactly the best credentials my friend."

"So you're making this your business - why?" John had moved in close to Ronan, unaware that they had an audience up in the control room that included a grinning Rodney, a frowning Elizabeth and two gate technicians who were about to place wagers on who would take the first swing.

"Just saying Sheppard,I think she's worth a little more than your usual attention span." John appeared to deflate just a little with the understanding that Ronan cared enough to take the time to make sure she was not hurt again.

"Point taken Ronan, and if I didn't care, last night would have turned out a lot different, believe me." Seeing the truth in John's eyes, he nodded once, satisfied and looked up at the control room just as Elizabeth retorted somewhat sarcastically... "The wormhole only stays open 38 minutes... take this argument to the other side, better still take it up when you get back, but just get through that damn wormhole!" John's half hearted salute brought a reluctant smile to her face.

They discarded their weapons in a secure location as soon as they were through the gate and made their way to the settlement where they were greeted by the local people. Offered a beverage in the local tavern, John turned a little green and politely declined, muttering something about being the sober driver and Ronan grinned, their old comradie back again.

"Your guests await you in the tavern. We took the liberty of providing them with refreshments. They arrived much earlier than we expected and wanted to take a look at the mining area first, before the meeting." The chancellor, Eldad looked at them concerned, hopeful that he had done the right thing. They owed a debt of gratitude to the people of Atlantis and it was important that the roles they had been given were played out correctly.

He did however, not miss the look that passed between Ronan and John, at the mention of their interest in the mining area. This served to confirm that this would be the required payment and John knew that these particular mines were rich in a specific ore that could be easily made into weapons grade energy materials,another reason why this planet had been chosen for the meeting.

"You did just fine Eldad" John said now, reassuring the small man. "That was perfect. We will join them in the tavern now I think and begin our business."

Exchanging a tense look, Ronan and John entered the tavern and found the the four men seated at a table, indulging in the local brew. Their earth weapons rested negigently on the table beside them, and despite their laughter and loud voices as they joked together, John saw the taut posture and wary eyes of trained soldiers and recognised their own. No longer dressed in earth military attire and covered in a little of the grime and dust that would be expected from the working men of this part of the galaxy, they were hard to recognise against the photos that John had imprinted in his mind. He hoped that for the same reasons, his face would appear different as well and in the presence of the large Sateden, it was doubtful that John would look anything like the Colonel Sheppard who had left earth two years ago.

The leader rose as they entered and laughter stopped. He had the bearing of a Colonel and John knew that one of the men in the photos was Colonel Matt Harne, army career man and despite the disguise, knew that this was him. They shook hands in the traditional greeting of this world and he gestured for them to sit down and offered the jug of ale. Ronan readily took a full mug and drank gustily, John grimaced slightly and sipped with less enthusiasm.

The Colonel did not beat around the bush once the introductions were over and his sharp eyes were continually flicking between Ronan and John, as though waiting for one of them to make a wrong move. _I"ll have to be very careful_ John thought. _This guy has had the same training that I have, no mistakes, so slip ups, or we're history._

"Gentlemen. What can we do for you?" He steepled his fingers, but it was Ronan to whom he addressed his question, assuming him to be the spokesperson.

"Assistance with a little problem. To put it simply – the neighbouring settlement wish to control the mine. We have only just begun to work this particular mine and it appears to yield a high level of mineral, which we would use for trade. We only want to share in the yield, as is our right. Talking has not proved beneficial and we now wish to make a stronger show of force... shall we say? We do not have weapons, nor training to do this. We wish to hire your services to send this message."

Ronan sat back, having delivered the message as rehearsed and watched for the reactions of the men who sat opposite them. Looking for a sign that their game was not going to be played by their rules.

The Colonel nodded once, a gesture to his men to stand up. "That can be arranged. But first, payment must be discussed. Our services do not come cheap. We require the first large shipment of mineral from your mine, once it is operational, and a smaller portion of each shipment thereafter. I understand that the mine has a possibility of being a profitable and high yielding one, therefore this should not affect your production for trade."

_Play it cool_ John told himself. _These boys are running right into our trap._

Ronan had put out his hand, after flicking a small glance at John. "I can make the deal on behalf of my people. It is a deal that they would consider fair. What more will you need from us?"

"We need a precise map of where everything can be located in the area that you require us to perform our methods of persuasion so that we can plan where our best offensive patterns will be set up. We will need several days to put everything in place, however we will need the map before we leave."

John gestured to Eldad who had been watching discreetly from a distance, and bending down close to him, he explained what they would need. Eldad nodded, and went off quickly to fetch a map, with John keeping a wary eye on the soldiers, who were still chatting comfortably with Ronan. At that moment two more soldiers walked in – they had obviously been out in the mine, and getting the lay of the land in order to bring back more information, and John felt himself stiffen as he recognised both Ted and Eric. His fist closed at his side and he felt a sheet of red go down over his eyes, and had to force himself to breathe calmly or he would be at their throats in seconds, hands choking the life out of them. Rising then, he had no choice. He could not sit at the same table as these men, needed to leave now, before he blew this mission with one wrong move.

Nodding at them and walking past them took every inch of will power that he possessed and he caught the curious look that Ted slanted at him, almost as though he knew him, then he was past them and outside and was able to vent a little of his anger on the wall of a building that was out of sight of the tavern. Several punches later, he looked down at his fists in distaste, finding them bruised and bloodied, but still the red hot anger burned through his blood.

He got through the next hour, thinking of Dani, thinking of retribution, he watched as Eldad draw the required map, his bloodied fists rendering his almost useless and made himself go back in the tavern and stare into the faces of the men who had beaten a woman unconcious for information that she had on them, and formed the words is his head. _I will kill you._


	14. Chapter 14 Straight from the Top

CHAPTER 14 – STRAIGHT FROM THE TOP

Ronan's eyes had narrowed when John had walked back in and he had noted the bloodied fists, and pushing himself out of his chair thinking that John had been in a fight, he looked at the message that flashed quickly in Sheppard's eyes, and mentally backed down. Time to get out of there and fast.

John's anger was palpable as they left the settlement and Ronan, apart from concerned glances sent his way, kept silent until they stepped through the stargate on Atlantis. Sometimes a man needed a little silence to get his thoughts in order.

He saw Dani in the control room as he stepped through, automatically looking up to see if Elizabeth was there. He needed to talk to her. Wincing as he fisted his hands, the faces of the two men swimming in stark clarity across his eyes, he looked directly at Dani, and she saw something in his eyes that caused terror in her heart.

She ran down the stairs, hair streaming out behind her, and pulled herself up before she got to him, noticing the blood on his hands. "John? What happened? You're hurt." Gently she picked up his hands and turned them over, then tugged gently. "You need to go to the infirmary to get these treated..."

"Later!." He ground out brusquely, and none too gently pulled his hands from hers, turning his back on her and missing the flash of hurt that entered her eyes. It was Ronan that made the effort to explain, casting an exasperated look at John.

"Ted and Eric walked in just as we were leaving. I haven't managed to get the story out of John yet, but am guessing that anger drove him to take some steam out on a brick wall."

"Jesus Ronan. I had him, he passed within a foot of me. I could have killed him, both of them right then and there."

Elizabeth joined them from the control room. "And what would that accomplish John. You would have been captured by the others, the plan would be ruined and we'd be at less than square one, as we'd have to send in another team to rescue you and Ronan."

"Well Elizabeth, then consider yourself lucky that my eventual reasoning mirrored yours, and all I've got is my blood on these fists, instead of their blood on my hands..."

In anger, he went to leave the gate room, and Dani made to go after him. "Leave him Dani. You don't wanna be around him right now, when he's angry like that. He'll say something he'll regret and hate himself tomorrow. Give him some time to cool down." Ronan had caught up to her and placed a hand on her arm to stop her following him.

"I've made my problems his Ronan,and that's not fair." The dejected look in Dani's eyes had Ronan pulling her lightly towards him and leading her back up to the control room.

"No Dani, those problems are the problems of your planet, and he's made it his job to clean them up. You unfortunately, are just one of the casualities of that problem."

Elizabeth called out to Ronan just as he was about to enter the control room. "Get John back here Ronan, we've got a video comm coming in from General O'Neill, and it's urgent." Ronan continued to steer Dani into the control room, at the same time tapping his ear comm and brusquely telling John to get back to the control room, and mentally hoping that the man's mood would improve a little soon. He suspected that whatever General O'Neill had to say, was not going to add any good vibrations to John's mood.

Ronan kept Dani protectively in front of him, inadvertantly shielding her both from the General, and John's ascerbic mood as he thundered back up the stairs, face darkened by a scowl.

"Jesus Ronan, what the hell is so important that I can't get a minute to myself around here..."

"That would be me Colonel Sheppard... generally when a ranking officer calls, it means you drop everything and find out what that ranking officer wants. Seems your time on Atlantis has blurred those distinctions even further..." General O'Neill did not look particularly impressed this time. The news he had to tell them had left him feeling betrayed by his country and his government and he did not welcome the insubordination of an officer who carelessly flouted his disrespect. Not at this time...

"Sorry General..." John muttered, and came to stand beside Ronan, anger tightening his features further as he noted Dani held close by Ronan, in an obvious attempt to shield her from him. "Just completed our meeting with the rogue military team, fortunately minus Major Ray larson, but we did have the oh so dubious pleasure of confirming that Ted and Eric are in fact offworld and a part of this rogue team. Damn it General, I walked right past them and was seconds away from showing them exactly why you do not beat up on a woman..."

John curled his bloodied fist, and on the video feed, General glanced downward able to clearly see the damage that John had done to his fists. "Seems to me Sheppard, you got in a few punches elsewhere?"

"Venting General,and no it didn't work... unfortunately. I am still pissed, now add bruised and sore and feel like my damn insides are churned up. Sir!" Remembering a little late that he had managed to forgot the polite form of address for a ranking officer. Perhaps he had been in the Pegasus Galaxy a little too long. His military training, in some repects, was starting to showed blurred lines of definition.

"Colonel, take yourself a deep breath, because my news is a little worse. I had a call today, from the Vice President..." General O'Neill let his voice trail off a little, to give the Lantian personnel time to let the implications set in before he continued.

"Oh crap... why do I get the feeling it's all gonna hit the fan... and soon." John went to run a hand through his hair,and promptly winced as he aggravated his wounds. "What did he have to say General?" John noted that Ronan had released Dani and she had moved closer to the screen, effectively allowing O'Neill to acknowledge that she was in the room.

"Not sure if you're ready to hear this Dani – he demanded that we return you to earth. He knows you're in Atlantis. He didn't trust the one who had been told to get rid of you after they had beaten you, and they tracked the gate address after it had been activated. You had been held on a planet there in Pegasus, after being transported using the second stargate. At that time they had drugged you, and taken you offworld to find out how much you knew. You kept notes Dani, lot's of them. You had suspected for some time that they were up to something, but you suspected terrorist activities. Instead of confronting Ted, you went to your boss, who incidentally is in on the whole thing, and from there he went to the VP."

"Are you serious General? He told you all of this? Why the hell would he tell you? It implicates him, hell it likely implicates a lot of high up officials back on earth." John was pacing now, attempting to assimilate the information he had just been given.

"He knows I have no proof Sheppard. He knows that Dani has told us nothing that can formally implicate him. He's also told me that he will remove me from the SGC and that he has the power to do that."

Elizabeth tried to get control of the tension that was building in the control room. Dani looked terrified and had turned to John as though he could provide an instant solution.

"General, we're not sending her back – I don't care how much pull he has at your end. Sending her back will effectively sign her death warrant."

"You're damn right we're not sending her back." John thundered this out. "We're gonna continue with the plan we have in motion, we're gonna round this whole group up and we'll get the proof we need, tangible irrefutable proof and we'll take them down."

"John..." Dani placed a calming hand on his arm and turned back to the video screen. "You said I had notes – how did he know about those, and where are they likely to be?"

John looked down at the tiny hand on his arm and flicked his glance back up to the face of the woman who had been through hell and back for the security of her country, and didn't even remember it. Not the fragile woman who had arrived battered and broken through the stargate, only days ago. But a strong woman, with a backbone of steel, and she was beginning to remember the woman that she had been in her life on earth and that natural strength was beginning to assert itself.

"We have sent people to search your apartment Dani, but it has already been gone through – both by the police when your friends and colleagues reported you missing, and I would likely say that the vice president arranged for a thorough sweep of it as well. And if you had been as thorough as I think you were, you wouldn't have left any evidence for them to find that easily. The notes and evidence would be locked away somewhere secure. That's what you need to try and remember now. That's the key to bringing these bastards down to their miserable knees."

"You don't think I've tried General – hell, AM trying. Hypnosis gave up the vice president, and maybe further hynosis will yield where I hid the notes... If you don't send me back, what is he going to do? What can he do?"

"Dani, this is the vice president of the United States. Hell, you work in government, you know the wheeling and dealing that goes on there, and all the underhanded nastiness that goes hand in hand with the good stuff in politics. He has the ears of the president, he can shut down the stargate programme, he can shut down Atlantis and pull back all personnel and all the while he can continue his own little personal agenda with his team of rogue soldiers. The second stargate on earth can be moved to another location at a moments notice and we'll forever be tracking it. But if I get kicked out, the one put in my place will be on his side and slowly... that small cancerous root that has only just begun to take hold now, will become a black tumour, and our government will stand for everything that our fathers, grandfathers fought wars to protect against. Does that answer your question Dani?"

The General looked exhausted and they all knew that he had spent the last two days pulling every favour in that he could.

"Ok General." John firmed his resolve. They were not going to either intimidate him nor take over the country that he had given his life to defend. "How do you want to play this. We won't lose Atlantis, and we won't lose the stargate programme. It is the only thing keeping the enemy from the door, so to speak. Tell me what you want us to do."

A new respect for Sheppard crept into the General's eyes and he was reminded now, why he had chosen this younger man to command a base in another galaxy. "Keep up the plan you have in place with the rogue group, that is still our best bet to catch them in the act, and all together. They will not give up the higher ranked members of their group easily, but eventually, we'll be able to find the necessary leverage to get them to roll over. Go into the mission, once it has been confirmed, with full marine backup and they need to be brought in alive. Dani?"

When she did not answer, John swiftly looked around the room,and saw that she had gone. "She's gone Sir, sorry... I guess it must have been all a little too much to take in... I need to go and find her."

"Go Sheppard. But she holds the key, she needs to remember where she hid the evidence. That's what will bring them down. O'Neill out!"


	15. Chapter 15 She Holds The Key

CHAPTER 15 – SHE HOLDS THE KEY

She thought that she didn't care where she went, but unwittingly she had planned a subconcious route, and it let to Kate Heitmeyer. She knew that without those unlocked memories, they had nothing concrete and she had seen the look on Elizabeth's face. Sympathy, yes – but her look had said that she believed Dani would make the right decision, for everyone.

Kate was in her office, and she looked up in surprise when Dani walked in. "I didn't expect to see you back so soon. An extremely emotional session such as the one you underwent the other day, needs a little time to get over. Are you here to talk, or are you going to push yourself further than you should really go at this point?"

"Elizabeth told you, didn't she...?" Dani flopped down hard onto the couch and tipped her head back against the rest.

"She thought you'd come here when you left the control room, so she gave me the heads up. Don't worry, she was discreet. She gave the impression that you needed to get away from the others for a while. My suggestion Dani? Don't go again for the hypnosis just yet... just talk to me, about anything. Sometimes just talking can unlock certain barriers that we didn't even know we had put up."

Dani felt comfortable with Kate and knew that in another life, they would have been friends. _Friends..._ she thought bitterly. _How will I ever know who to trust again?_ Kate saw the twist of her features and could only guess at the thoughts that were going through her head. She also saw by the resolve in her eyes, that she would disregard Kate's suggestion.

"Put me under Kate... please." Kate sighed. "I have to go on record as saying that I don't agree with what you are doing and you are going against my recommendations. Do you understand that?"

"I'll sign any damn disclaimer you want, just do it... please."

Two pair of eyes flickered quickly to the door as it slid open and a dishevelled John Sheppard walked in, fists still untreated and raw, and an angry set to his jaw. "You're coming with me Dani. It's too soon, it can't happen again, you know that." He stood in front of her and reached to grab her upper arm, pulling so that she came up off the couch.

Kate, fascinated in spite of herself, by the undercurrents that crackled between them, interjected dryly. "I've been through this already with her Colonel, she's made her decision, be it the right one or not, she was presented with all the facts."

"It's not her call Doc, it's mine. Come with me Dani, now."

Anger now in her eyes, she pulled her arm out of his grip and pushed slightly at his chest to move him. "Don't give me any of that macho crap, I'm not in the mood. I'll make any damn decision I please, and you are interupting a private session here. I would suggest you leave."

_Wow, steel is right. So not the woman who came through that stargate. Will the real Dani please stand up? _"I'm not leaving Dani." He closed his eyes briefly. "If you have to do it now, you'll do it with me here. You'll not do it alone. Ok?" She nodded once, tightly as though it hurt to move her head, and sank back onto the couch. This time John did not sit with her, but moved to the back of the room, out of her line of vision, and paced like a caged animal.

"Ok Dani, we'll take the same route as last time, but this time I need to take you deeper and further back, to when you first met Ted. To when you first started to get suspicious."

Kate began then, talking her backwards through points in time and giving her the safe haven to come back to, to always come back to. John watched as she smiled a happy smile, her meeting with Ted for the first time, at a political dinner put on by the senator, with whom Ted was an old friend. Still happy, as they began the early stages of their relationship, and John had to push the jealous spark that rose in a single motion, back inside where it belonged. She talked then about her suspicions. The group that would meet regularly at Ted's apartment, sometimes when she had stayed over. Snippets of conversation heard, small clues and a general sense that they were involved in something very bad. Then one night they had attended a dance, and the vice president had been there and had called Ted and several others away to a meeting in one of the back rooms. Feeling uneasy without knowing why, Dani had discreetly followed them, waiting outside the door, hearing just small amounts, but enough to know that what they were planning, was paramount to terrorist activities and that it involved travel between planets. There had been talk in DC, covert talk, about the possibility of a programme that allowed interstellar travel, but like much that was discussed in DC, it was unsubstantiated and Dani did not put much stock in general rumours.

So Dani had bided her time. Smiled prettily and played the dutiful girlfriend, inside she had become mistrustful and suspicious and started recording dates, times and what had been discussed and even going so far as to make recordings using her sophistated phone and photos where she was able. She had compiled a substantial amount of discriminating evidence and decided to go to her boss, to get advice on where to take it.

Little did she know that he was also a key player and she was instantly suspicious when he told her to drop it, that she didn't have all the facts and would only end up embarassing herself. She left the meeting, feeling a little uncertain, but knowing that she had to hide the file that she carried with her, the one she had taken to the meeting, hidden in her briefcase. She suspected that if the senator had known she carried it with her, she would have been taken then and there.

_If you want to hide something, hide it in plain sight..._ a good friend had once told her that. At work, the senator's office had a small library attached to it, filled with mainly political and legal books, but a shelf had also been dedicated to files on different rulings, the file covers the same as she was using. She had simply put it with the others, marked with an inocuous title that would arouse no suspicions, and it was leaving the office that evening at the end of her working day, that she had been attacked in the carpark, drugged and bundled into the back of a van.

Dani's breathing had become rapid and shallow and Kate quickly brought her out. They had the information they needed, John had already activated his ear comm and quietly relayed the information to Elizabeth to pass on to General O'Neill. John then dropped in front of her, waiting for her eyes to open and when they did, she did not show signs of recognition. "Dani? Look at me sweetheart... do you know where you are?" She looked disorientated, too much information had passed through her head and she was essentially in overload, with a part of her mind shutting down to allow for the information to be processed.

No reply, and John drew her upwards, then swung her into his arms when she looked as though she was about to collapse. "This is what you warned her about Kate? I'll take her to see Carson, get her checked out."

Kate nodded. "I was afraid something like this might happen. Emotional overload is an unknown and we don't know what it's effects on individual minds are going to be. She really needs some time, but I doubt that's going to happen given the urgency of the situation. While you're there John, in the infirmary – please get those hands taken care of..." John's smile was a grim one, and he left Kate's office.

Dani was shaking uncontrollably by the time he got her to the infirmary and Carson took one look at her and indicated he put her on the nearest bed. "You've got some background for me Colonel? Or am I flying blind here?" John had just stood looking down at her and Carson jolted him verbally to get a reaction of any sort from him.

"Sorry Doc – the result of a second round of hypnosis, one I might add, she was recommended against doing. Kate said it was some sort of emotional overload. She's shut down.."

With a few more facts, Carson set about checking her vital signs, and saw them to be in the normal range. "She's ok, son – just needs some time. Take her to her quarters, it'll be quieter there and she can rest." When John bent to pick her up again, Carson stopped him with a look.

"Not so fast... let's get those hands treated first..."


	16. Chapter 16 To Err is to be Human

CHAPTER 16 – TO ERR IS TO BE HUMAN

Bloodied hands heal as do overloaded emotions, but it does take more than one night and as John lay restless in his bed that night, his mind flickered over everything that they had learned that day, both from General O'Neill and through Dani's hypnosis. He had taken her back to her quarters and she had been quiet, lost in her own thoughts, and had not given in to the temptation to spend another night in her bed. He only had so much self control, and he felt it slipping away, little pieces at a time.

Turning over and thumping the pillow to get it into a more comfortable shape, he attempted to find a position more conducive to sleep. Elizabeth had contacted the General to give him the location of the notes, and it was much later that night that they received communication from him. The senator had refused them entry into his offices without a court order, and given the nature of the conspiracy, that was going to be difficult to obtain. Most judges tread warily around senators unless there was an airtight case against them, and the General's story of intergalactic war games... John gave a small laugh... no doubt as to where that was going to end up. Front page of The National Enquirer and the General would be ridiculed right out of the airforce.

_Hide in plain sight by ass..._ They still had to be able to get in there to get it.

The General was, if nothing else, a resourceful man – and he would organise a stealth mission to break in and find the files, and would hopefully find a little more, that perhaps the senator himself was keeping hidden there.

Sleep finally came, but it was not restful. A pair of gray eyes constantly filled his mind as well as the faces of the men who had effectively become traitors of their country. He hoped that their sleep that night was as tortured as his.

Awakening cranky and definitely out of sorts, he did however go straight to Dani's quarters, concerned that she was still feeling the effects of yesterday's traumatic experience. He had taken the time to shower, but had left out the shaving, just in case they were contacted by the rogue military and he needed to don his Sateda persona. As he hesitated outside her door, he ran a hand through his hair, still feeling edgey and his hair spiked up into disarray and that combined with his unshaven look, gave him a dark, dangerous appearance.

He knocked, almost walked away, but willed himself to stay. Unsure why he was reluctant to face her, he rested his head briefly against the door as he heard footsteps from the other side, somewhat slow and hesitant and wondered if she knew that it was him. The door opened under her command and he still stood there, arms braced on either side of the doorway, head now bowed and his eyes came to rest on her bare feet, those tiny high arched feet with the little rose tattoo at the ankle and that brought a smile to his lips, the first one of the day. Then upward, to bare legs, lovely legs and the hem of a black base teeshirt, that he could almost swear was one of his. Feeling his gaze, and watching where it lingered, she attempted to pull down the hem of the teeshirt just a little, feeling somewhat exposed to his almost hungry gaze.

"John... I'd ask if you slept well, but can see in your eyes, that it's likely you didn't..." A small smile played about her lips and his own eyes darkened in reponse, then dropped down to the length of leg that was on display. "So, are you going to come in, or stay propped up in the doorway like an untidy garden ornament..." and she turned, walking back into room and out onto the balcony to let the ocean breeze lift her hair away from her suddenly hot skin.

He growled, there was no other word for it. He felt hot and bothered and knew that he should turn around now and just... leave. But couldn't make himself do it. Not in a million years. He wanted her. Knew it without a doubt, without reason. Knew also, that for now – she was off limits. So,he followed her out onto the balcony, telling himself this was a bad bad mistake, then he was fisting his hands in her hair and hearing her sigh was his undoing. She turned, was not going to make it easy for him, knew by the anger on his face that the hot gaze in his eyes was not there because he wanted it to be. But damn it, she needed him too, he had gotten under her skin and if they could each enjoy a little release, then where was the harm.

He told himself that he tried, he really did. His hands slid down her body, under her teeshirt to feel the hot silky skin that warmed still further at this touch, then using his hands to cup her bottom and pull her tightly against him, no doubts as to his heightened state of arousal. _Off limits... hell no!_ And that was his last rational thought, wrong or right, at this very moment, this is what they both wanted.

Her teeshirt was gone, and wearing just a tiny pair of lace underpants, she placed her hands flat against his chest and pushed, guiding him backwards into the room, towards the bed. Stronger than she looked, she had him on the bed and was astride him in moments, opening buttons on his shirt, then leaning forward to trail kisses down his chest and lower.

Soon it was skin to skin, sounds, feelings, heat then the release that they both needed, shuddering and earthshattering and he knew that he had made one of the biggest mistakes of his life. There would be no one time with this woman, he needed her scent and her touch as much as he needed to breathe, and by God, he would have it

She curled into him, skin damp and satisfied and knew that no other man had prepared her for him... once would not be enough, not in a thousand lifetimes and that this had been the biggest mistake of her life.

He growled a low sound in her ear and her body tightened again in anticipation. And sighed. She had already made the mistake, might as well make it as many times as she could. Afterall, you could only be hanged once...


	17. Chapter 17 The Path Taken

CHAPTER 17 – THE PATH TAKEN

Over breakfast and coffee they exchanged veiled glances, then joined by Ronan and Teyla, John reached his hand under the table and gently stroked the inside of her thigh, watching as her eyes widened slightly. _Ok, _thought John_ not just one bad mistake, but a whole damn series of them. Might as well go down swinging..._

Teyla's shrewd eyes noticed the telltale flush on Dani's cheeks and the slightly more relaxed demeanour that John exhibited and closed her eyes briefly. The path had been taken and she suspected they were both on it for it's entirety and she hoped fervently that the crossroads that came their way, did not present too much heartache.

"Any more news from Elizabeth guys? O'Neill should be organising that covert search tonight earth time – the pieces are falling into place. I just wanna get my hands on those bastards – happy to leave the VP to O'Neill and the boys back home, but those soldiers, they'll get my justice."

Ronan grunted in agreement. "They'll get the justice of this galaxy Sheppard. They've committed the crimes here, we'll dish out the punishment. They'll not go back to earth."

Dani's eyes had widened and John knew that this would be a difficult concept for her, having been an advocate of the earth legal and justice system, believing that the ways of earth, were the only ways. She would have a hard time conceiving of the fact that justice is served in the same helping as the crime dished out and they would make it their business to ensure that it was done.

"You'll not take them back to earth John? They'll pay for their crimes there."

His hand that had been making small circles on her inner thigh stopped briefly as he carefully chose the words he wanted to say.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, I wish I could sugar coat this, but I can't. If they go back to earth, they'll get either get a small sentence in a military prison and essentially be treated like heroes, all but getting a ticker tape parade when they get out. The officials in the government who are on their side, they'll see to that. We can't allow that to happen, because in a short while, it'll all begin again, another group, another agenda. We are the end of the line Dani, and we make our stand here, in this galaxy and we'll not lose everything that we've been fighting for to scum who flout the rules and undo all the good that we have done here. Their fate was sealed the minute you came through that stargate battering and bruised."

"I don't know how I feel about that John,I'm sorry, but it has to be said. You are making yourselves judge, jury and executioner, and that goes against everything that I have grown up to believe in – that you have grown up to believe in. I wish you hadn't told me... better not to know, I think."

He squeezed her knee now. "You are stronger than you think, much stronger than we thought when you arrived here. And you need to finish what you started."

Her voice was quiet then. "And then what John? Where do I go from there? How do I go back, to work within a government that I have essentially lost faith in?"

"Dani, love – you're not seeing the whole picture. It's only a small growth within the government – kill the cancer and the good cells will take over the bad cells, simply biology. And it is this same government that put us here on Atlantis, so we still have to believe that are out to do good..." He paused a minute, wanting to word the answer to her question, the real question, carefully."

"You don't have to go back – Atlantis would be honoured to have someone of your strength and passion a part of it's residents and I'm sure that General O'Neill could pull enough strings to make sure you become a part of this team."

Both Teyla and Ronon shot John sharp looks. Teyla chose silence though – she had known it would come to this. Ronon however, voiced his concerns. "Be very sure you know what you're asking Sheppard, there's no turning back after that, I think you know that..."

John shot Ronon a look, then his ear comm was activated, and as he answered it, he returned his eyes to Dani. She had not given him an answer, and saw by the look in her eyes that it was something she had not considered. _Too much, too soon, _John thought, _maybe I should have waited before springing that on her, but she needed to know, that I consider it a very real option... hell face it man, you want it more than anything right now..._

Elizabeth's voice interupted his musings. "Colonel, you've got your rendevous. The rogue group have sent contact via Eldad – this afternoon, it's being set up. Does that give you time to get your teams in place and hidden? If you're going to take them down John, you'll only get the one shot."

"I'm aware of that Elizabeth, it'll happen. Sheppard out."

He filled in the others and then snapped on his comm to get Major Lorne to organise four teams of marines in four jumpers to leave within the hour. They did however, have the serious disadvantage of not knowing where the rogue soldiers would be intending to set up and that left a lot of ground for the marines to cover. Still, he'd make it happen. One way or another, Ted and his friends, were not coming out of this alive.

Dani followed him back to his quarters so that he could get changed into his Satedan attire. She felt restless, wanting to do something that would be useful... but simply feeling as though she was in the way. This is what she had put into motion on earth, a lifetime ago – and it seemed unfair that she would not be apart of the final showdown. There was a part of her that wanted to look Ted in the eye and ask him, why he had done what he did, so that she could get some closure of her own and she argued to herself that that is what the justice system could have given her, a chance to stare him in the eye and find out why. Pegasus justice? There may be some satisfaction for John, but there was none for her.

Edgey now, she paced in his quarters while he changed. Did she want to stay here after all this was over? Could she become a part of this life, this world and leave everything behind that she knew and loved. But there was a new factor in all this now... the man who stood in front of her and looked at her in such a way that she would happily move to another galaxy to feel the heat of that gaze... for just one more day. Sensing her disquiet, he wrapped her in his arms, stilling her agitated pacing.

"Dani, love... promise me you'll think about what I asked you. I'm just starting to get to know you, I don't want to give you up."

She put a careful hand to his face. "I know that John, and we'll talk about it some more, but there's something I need to do. I'll be back..." she gave him a fierce kiss and looked at his face hard as though memorising every plane, then was gone and he stood shaking his head, wondering what on earth she was up to.

Her only thought as she ran from his room was closure. Not getting it. Needing to have it. There was only one way that she could get that and she made her way at speed to the jumper bay, hoping they hadn't left yet, and wondering if they hadn't just how she was going to pull it off. The marines were in various stages of loading weapons onto the jumpers and most seemed firmly focused on their tasks. She spotted Major Lorne, carefully staying out of the way, and watched as he took several weapons onto the back of a jumper, then quickly returned, leaving the room briefly. She had her chance. It was a slim one, and likely a stupid one, but it was the only one and she took it, running lightly across the jumper bay and quickly entering the back of the jumper that Major Lorne had just vacated. The rear compartment was roomy and had a luggage hold area that allowed for small pockets for equipment where one could curl up and hide... if one were small enough. And she did just that. Fitting herself in the darkest area and sent up a small wish that Major Lorne would not get into too much trouble for what he was about to unknowingly do.

It was not long before she heard the whine of the jumper engines, the sound of the marines voices as they moved on board and took their places in both the front area of the jumper and the rear compartment, then the feel of the jumper as it rose up through the landing bay and exited through the rear roof into the skies above Atlantis. With no plan in her head other than getting to the meeting point, she shut her eyes and waited out the duration of the trip, knowing that John was going to be extremely angry with her when she was caught.

The trip took about an hour and it was a very small area to be enclosed in for that length of time, even given her tiny stature. She had to wait until the sound of their voices started drifting away before she made her exit and it was to pins and needles as feeling slowly came back to her cramped limbs. Shaking her head in disgust, starting to doubt her reasons for coming, she took a deep breath and followed the sound of the marines, being careful to stay well back from them.

The different groups went in separate directions and she was careful to stay with Major Lorne's group. They moved stealthily through the grasslands, looking for the perfect place to set up an ambush and Dani found it difficult to keep her movements quiet, and there were times when Lorne must have sensed something behind him and he turned quickly. She managed to will herself to not breathe, not move, during those moments, and after looking searchingly in the direction she was hidden, he had turned and commenced moving forward.

Unfortunately her luck ran out. A hand clamped down over her mouth and a hard body pressed against hers and feeling her head pulled savagely back, she got a look at the person who had captured her. Ted... and the eyes that looked into hers were the eyes of a killer.


	18. Chapter 18 Standoff

CHAPTER 18 – STANDOFF

She was unable to scream – the hand clamped over her mouth was hard and unforgiving and she knew that she had made a terrible mistake in coming here without any sort of plan, and knew that she had likely put the rest of the team in jeopardy because of it.

His voice growled softly in her ear. "Bitch! I know who sent you through the stargate to Atlantis – and he has been taken care of. Weak links, they bring the chain of command to a grinding halt. You should have taken that second chance you were given and gone quietly back to earth and lived a peaceful life. Stupid fool. You meddle in things you have no knowledge of."

The marines were well out of sight now, and he stood pulling her back further into the bushes. "What are those marines looking for? Did you lead them here?" Dani's eyes widened briefly. He had not connected the marines with the meeting between John, Ronon and his rogue team, but had assumed that some unlocked memory had led her here with back up.

"Damn it Ted, let me go. You're an idiot. You think you'll get away with what you've done? The commander at stargate command knows all about you, all about the vice president and the little game he has going on here in the Pegasus Galaxy. It's only a matter of time before you all get pulled in. You've been identified through photos."

"You, sweet Dani, are the stupid one. Where's you proof? Lost that, didn't you – along with your memory."

"Memories come back Ted, when you least expect them..." He saw the challenge in her eyes, and saw the strength was back, from the woman she had been before. Strong willed and determined, yes – that is what had drawn her to him in the beginning. But she had gotten in the way of his plans and had become a liability. He had been ordered to get rid of her as soon as it became clear that she held vital evidence that could incriminate the entire rogue operation. And it hadn't been hard. He was a trained killer – but he had to learn the location of her hidden files first, so that relied on a certain amount of torture. Unfortunately she had passed out before she could give the location, and the member of their group who had felt remorse at what they had done, and sent her back to Atlantis before she regained consciousness.

"Tell you what Dani? I'll give you one more chance to tell me where those files are hidden. Just tell me where they are, I won't hurt you again, and you can stay here on Atlantis, and start over, a new life. This will all go away and we need never see each other again. Does that sound like a viable plan...hmmm?"

"Go to hell Ted! You'll get nothing from me!' He hit her then, hard and her scream of pain as he struck her broken ribs echoed through the forest area and he was quick to pull her up by the hair and clamp a hand back over her mouth.

"Shut up bitch! I'm not finished with you yet!" With his hand still over her mouth, he banded his other hand around her stomach and pushed her along in front of him and she felt the sharp pain in her ribs with each movement and knew that he had done more damage to them.

Dani's echoing scream had been heard by Lorne and his men, and they had halted. "What the hell was that?" whispered one of the marines urgently. "There should be no one out here, except perhaps some of the rogue team members if they arrived earlier than we did. That sounded like a woman and she sounded scared."

"Yeah, I'm getting a bit of those spidey senses happening that Sheppard is famous for. I'm going to contact Atlantis, warn them that something is not right." Lorne activated his radio and contacted Atlantis.

"Dr Weir, Lorne here. Has Colonel Sheppard left yet?"

"Not yet Major Lorne, he is with me now, just about to leave. Has something happened?" Elizabeth was immediately concerned.

"I don't know Dr Weir. We heard a woman scream and we're in a pretty remote area here, there should be no one else around, other than members of the rogue team."

John had been silent, but now turned urgently to Elizabeth. "Where is Dani? Has anyone seen her in the past two hours?" In response, Elizabeth activated her comm and opened up several channels to check on her whereabouts and came back with the response that she had not been seen since she left the mess this morning.

"Damn. Got a bad feeling about this..." He dragged a hand through his hair. "Lorne, Sheppard here. Any chance that you had a stowaway on one of the jumpers?"

"Are you serious Colonel? Why the hell would she do that?"

It was Ronan who answered. "She said it was her problem and that she felt bad for making it your problem. She wants to finish this, confront him."

"Damn!" Lorne swore into his comm. "If that was her we heard scream, then that can only been she's been caught. What do you want us to do Colonel?"

"Ronan and I can't jeopardise the mission at this stage, so you and your team will have to try and track her down. She's going to get more than a good talking to when I get my hands on her."

"Roger that Colonel, I just hope that there is something left of her to get your hands on..." and left John with a sickening feeling in his stomach.


	19. Chapter 19 Destroy the Enemy

CHAPTER 19 – DESTROY THE ENEMY

John and Ronon left through the stargate not long after, John feeling a mixture of fear and anger over what Dani had done. Ronon flicked concerned glances at him as they exited the gate area and left to meet the soldiers in the village as planned. "You gonna be able to focus on this Sheppard? We can't afford any distractions, you know that!"

"Damn it Ronon, I don't need any lectures from you. This move of hers was plain stupid – just who the hell does she think she is? She's likely jeopardised the whole mission and not to mention putting Lorne and those marines in danger."

"You're angry Sheppard, but more than that – admit it. You're scared for her, so you can't let those feelings get in the way. Deal with them later, hope she comes out of this in one piece, then sort out your feelings for her later."

Ronon turned his gaze frontward again and strode slightly ahead of John. He had said what he needed to say, but was not sure whether John would hear it.

They arrived in the village and found the soldiers already there. John's anger, already simmering to near boiling point, went up just another notch and he had to physically pull himself back from the brink of wanting to kill, right here, right now.

It was the Colonel who came up to them, two other soldiers hanging back just a little. John noticed that Ted and Eric were not with them, and remembering what Lorne had heard, felt a new surge of anger. If Dani had been captured, then it was likely that it was by the missing pair, and if they got their hands on her again, it seemed unlikely that they would not finish what they started this time.

"We've been over your map and have planned where we will begin our offensive. As we speak, four of my soldiers are already setting up ground weapons, bombs, other devices that will incapacitate the inhabitants of the village. We are expecting a high kill rate – the message we intend to leave with them, is a strong one and they will not question any of your suggestions again. We will ensure that you have full cooperation from them from this point on. And of course, in return, you will immediately commence your mining of the ore so that we may begin to take payment for the work that we do."

Ronon's face remained impassive but John, fully attuned to his body language, felt the slight tensing in his posture and knew that the news they had just received indicated that they were going to further lengths than they had been led to believe. John hope that Lorne could get his marines to begin neutralising the intended threat to ensure that the people of the settlement did not suffer. As soon as the soldiers left, John and Ronon would join them.

To the soldiers, Ronon just nodded, and the Colonel after giving both men a hard look, turned and left.

"Crap!" John had turned and was intending to head out of the village in the opposite direction, then circle around to where he knew Lorne had headed. "This could end badly Ronon. I hope I didn't make the wrong call in letting it go this far. We may outnumber them, but we still don't know where they have secured the ground weapons." He activated the small radio that had been hidden in his vest pocket.

"Lorne, come in. Give me your location." There was a slight cracking then Lorne's voice came back. "We have eyes on five soldiers, I repeat, five soldiers. They are laying perimeter fire around the settlement here. No sign of Ted and Eric, nor have we found Dani. I have to assume that they were the ones who took her. How many have you got at your end."

"We had three here for the meeting and they're heading your way now. That means all soldiers, except Ted and Eric are accounted for. Can you neutralise the weapons without being seen?"

Another crackle from the radio. "Roger that Colonel. They are leaving the immediate area now, they have hand weapons and are going into the buildings – it looks like they are going to round up some of the men of the village and bring them out. We need to act now."

"Do it Lorne. We'll be with you soon."

Ronon and John broke into a jog. It would take them at least a half hour to get to the other settlement, even at this pace and John trusted that Lorne would be able to hold things tight at their end until they got there.

Arriving on the outskirts of the settlement, breathless, John immediately activated the radio to check Lorne's location and status.

"All ground weapons have been taken out Colonel. We have a standoff in the centre of the village. The Colonel arrived minutes ago with the other two soldiers and they have a group of 20 village men, all lined up on the ground kneeling with their hands behind their heads. It looks as though they are going to execute them. We need to move now. I have marines in position totally surrounding the square."

"Take them down Lorne, now!"

Several things happened at once. Just as John gave Lorne the order, they heard the sound of automatic weapon fire, P90's and knew that Lorne had opened fire on the soldiers,firing for a wound only, not a kill. At the same time, John and Ronon felt the cold snub of a small weapon jam into their necks and knew that they had just found the missing soldiers.

Aahh, and you would be the elusive Ted White and Eric Baines - I believe we have had the rather dubious pleasure of meeting you under different circumstances?" John chose flippancy to combat the anger that was coursing through him. The snub of the weapon pushed harder into his neck in response and he heard the voice of Ted White growl into his ear.

"And just who in the hell are you two really? Not simple village men, are you. Not with those weapons. You wouldn't have come from Atlantis by any chance? You, my friend, bear a striking resemblance to a Colonel John Sheppard, whom while I have never met, has been introduced to me by way of a photo. Looks like Dani managed to get some troupes together after all. Shame really Colonel, it's a case of too little too late... don't you think?"

"Damn you White... where the hell is she? If you've touched her again, I won't just kill you, I'll dismember you piece by piece and just when you think it will all end, I'll stick you back together and do it all over again." John struggled briefly as he felt a hand reach around to take his weapon that he had tried to secure in his pocket.

"Sounds like you may have let her get under your skin Colonel. Not a good thing really – tried that and the little bitch just finds ways to bring you down. Would have thought you had more sense than to fall for someone like her."

John didn't give himself time to think, he just reacted. Driving his elbow with brutal force into the hard stomach of the man standing behind him, he waited until he heard the whoosh of wind leaving his stomach, then kicked back briefly and sharply into his knee, causing him to buckle slightly and the gun that had been at his neck to slip. That gave John all the break he needed and Ronon, hearing that John was fighting back, took the same opportunity to take out his own guard.

When White had stumbled, John whirled and was on him in moments, jabbing another elbow, this time to the chin, then following it with several punches in a row that kept him heading down towards the ground. John took his weapon,shoving into his face, eyes glittering dangerously now.

"Where is she White, I'll ask you one more time, then parts will start flying..."

White spat in his face, assuming that death would come one way or another. With lightning reflexes, John smashed his elbow again into his nose, causing the man to cry out in pain, then taking the gun he fired once, aiming lower towards the top of his thigh, bringing another scream of pain. Ronon had knocked his assailant unconcious, and now moved over to where John was, placing a cautionary hand on his arm.

"Enough for now John. We need to get to Lorne and his men and make sure they have everything under control there. Bring these two with us and secure them all."

"We need to find Dani Ronon!"

"We will find her John, we will find her."


	20. Chapter 20 Picking up the Pieces

CHAPTER 20 – PICKING UP THE PIECES

He said very little as he pulled White to his feet, illiciting a cry of pain as he caused him to put weight on his leg that now had a gunshot wound.

"Shut it... that was nothing to what I'm gonna do to you if you don't tell me where she is.." He growled this at him, and John saw a flicker of fear in his eyes that was quickly pushed back. This man knew that mission failure would result in death, one way or another, be it in this galaxy or his own. Failure had never been an option.

Ronon and John moved their captured men into the village square and surveyed the jumble of downed soldiers that littered the area, now held secure by both Lorne and his marines, as well as the village men, grateful for their stay of execution.

"Colonel. What do you want us to do with them?" All of the soldiers had gunshot wounds, mostly in their lower bodies. Their orders had been to bring them in alive as they needed the information from them, and while this went against every itch that permeated his body, John ground his teeth, wanting nothing more than to bring up his weapon and fire into them all. They had brought nothing more than disgrace to the country he had sworn to defend, hell, the world he had sworn to defend, and keeping them alive at this point was a small courtesy only.

"Secure them Lorne, then bring the jumpers and load them in. Take them back to Atlantis, put them in the cells there. Advise Elizabeth to contact General O'Neill, apprise him of the situation. These men are not to go back to earth yet - that is imperative. They'll be held accountable here, first. They don't go back until we get the information we need out of them. If O'neill wants to send through a team to do the interrogation, fine... otherwise you have the floor on that one, at least until I get back, then I'll be leaving my mark on them."

One of the soldiers, the Colonel, spat on the ground, inches from John's foot and without hesitation, he kicked out sharply, catching the Colonel in his bullet wound, causing him to scream out both in pain, and anger at John. John reached down and dragged his face up, using a choke hold around his neck. "You want mercy 'Colonel'? You'll not find any of that from me, nor respect..." and planted his fist in his face, watching as consciousness faded.

"Roger that Colonel." Lorne grimly gave orders to his marines and they began dragging the men to their feet, intent on securing them for transport back to Atlantis.

"Oh,and Lorne? Come back and pick us up once you have secured these men. I need to find Dani..." He received a tight nod from the Major and turning, giving Ronon a hard look, he headed off into the village area, to search all the buildings, while Ronon followed behind, not content to leave the task to John alone.

Frustrated and angry, John met Ronan in the village centre an hour later. Neither had managed to find any sign of Dani, and they had since organised as many of the village people as they could to assist with the search.

"We need to retrace their steps Ronon. Go back to where Lorne heard her cry out, track them from there. He can't have gotten that far with her, especially if she was hurt."

Using the information that Lorne had given them they moved back into the forest area and it was only a short time later that Ronon spotted the signs of a struggle in some bushes. "Here, Sheppard. This is where she was captured. He doesn't appear to have been concerned enough to hide his tracks, we should have no trouble following."

He had dragged her through the bushes and John was relieved to note that there was no sign of blood, indicating that she had likely not been shot or wounded by any other weapon that drew blood. The sun was beginning to set now and he did not wish to continue the search in darkness, so increased his pace, tersely asking Ronan whether he had found any further signs.

Ronon stopped, pointing downward. "Here - he threw her down on the ground - see how the grass has been flattened as though a body has lain here? From here he must have picked her up, the signs of a second person have disappeared."

"Unless she's around here... is there anywhere that a person can be hidden. Dammit Ronon, we need to find here... we don't know what sort of injuries she has... hell, we don't even know whether she's alive."

"She's alive Sheppard, or he would have left her here..."

"Dani? Dani!... It's John... Dani!" He cupped his hands around his mouth and turned in a half circle so that his voice carried outward. Waiting, he listened to see if there was any response, but was only rewarded with the shrieking of a bird of unknown variety, obviously reacting to the instrusion into his previously quiet environment.

"Dani!..."

"John..." The voice was weak, and they only managed to hear it faintly, carried on the breeze that had sprung up. Night was falling now, and the temperatures had begun to plummet.

"This way John..." Ronon took off in the direction he had heard the voice,and John was following in fast pursuit. They came to a gully and saw that a flurry of stones signified that something or someone had fallen and Ronon pulled on John's shirt as he went to head over the edge.

"Wait, John.. we don't know what's down there." Pulling a flashlight out of a pocket, he shone it down the embankment, which was steep and lined with loose scree and stones and saw the crumpled figure of a woman down the bottom.

"Dani... damn... how badly are you hurt? We'll get you up - just give us a few minutes to sort out the best way."

He heard a small laugh and mentally gave a sigh of relief. He clicked his radio. "Sheppard here. Lorne, you back yet?"

He waited until he heard his radio crackle and Lorne' voice came back. "Just arrived Colonel. Heard some help?"

"Need some rope Lorne. We've found Dani, she's down the bottom of a ravine and there's no way we'll get down without ending up the same way she did. What's your ETA?" He gave Lorne their location and waited for his reply, relaying the information back to Ronon, who stood at the top of the ravine shining his light down for Dani and keeping her talking.

Lorne arrived with rope and other climbing equipment that was always stored for emergencies in the back of the jumpers. Securing one end to a sturdy tree, Ronan and Lorne took the slack up on the rope and John edged his way down the slippery slope, trying to go as carefully as he could. Too fast, and he loosened more stones to send down on top of her. It took 20 minutes to get down, and John was quick to drop to his knees beside her, carefully turning her over and brushing dirt and sticks from her face and hair to see what sort of injuries she had. Covered in various abrasions and bruises, she still managed a smile at him that took his breath away and she reached up with her arm to lightly stroke his face, wincing as she did so.

"So Dani, is there anything that is not bruised or broken... I don't know what came off worse, you or the ravine? And I'm trying to remember just how angry I'm supposed to be with you at the moment, but can't seem to focus on that. Let's just get you out of here, and I won't kid you sweetheart, this is gonna hurt."

"Yeah John, I figured that much out. Just get it over quickly, consider it punishment for whatever stupidity I did, and we're even?'

"Not even close sweetheart... ok, I need to secure this rope around you, and I'm gonna tie you to the front of me. I'll take the weight, but there still be some pull from the rope, so take a breath..."

And it did hurt. He watched her face and heard her hiss of breath as the rope dug into damaged ribs, then saw her fade to unconsciousness when the pain became too much. They wasted no time when they got her to the top, taking off the rope and lifting her carefully to the jumper, which Lorne had landed nearby once he had been told of their location. It may have been a short trip back to Atlantis through the stargate, but the trip back to health both mentally and physically for Dani, would be a much longer one.


	21. Chapter 21 Closure

CHAPTER 21 – CLOSURE

John did not feel any enthusiasm for the group that met them in the jumper bay as they arrived back in Atlantis. He gave a cursory salute to General O'Neill, ignored the two IOA officials that stood nearby with bland faces and barely gave an acknowledgement to the fourth man, whose face would have needed no introduction.

"Colonel Sheppard I presume?" This fourth man stepped forward and held out a hand, and John, who held tightly to Dani, still unconscious, looked at the hand with just a little loathing and disbelief. He dragged his eyes upward, lifted her slightly in his arms and used one hand to key his ear comm, effectively ignoring the party who stood before him.

"Carson, I need medical down in the jumper bay - now!" Wearily, he shut his eyes briefly, opening them again in the hope that the group who stood in front of him, now shuffling a little uncomfortably in the face of his lack of enthusiasm, would have gone. However, they had not, and he noted that General O'Neill's eyebrows had drawn together rather forbiddingly, a sure sign that he was well on the way to a temper meltdown.

"Sheppard! I realise that this has been an extremely... delicate... mission, but as your superior officer, do I need to remind you that it is customary to show some sort of respect for the President of the United States."

John did not respond immediately, drew a deep breath and blew it out when Carson came running into the jumper bay with a gurney, allowing John to carefully lay Dani on it. He went to follow the gurney, choosing then to turn back briefly.

"With all due respect... sirs... this mission has been a bitch, I'm feeling extremely let down by a country who I have always held as above reproach and unfortunately...sir... as leader of that country, I am finding that my trust in your leadership is feeling a little misplaced - and while I understand that you are not involved in what has come to light, you as leader of that country, have a measure of responsibility in all that happens within it's governing factions... "

He turned then, ignoring the surprised gasp from O'Neill and followed Dani to the infirmary. Let them sort out their crap - he had his own to sort out.

He sat broodingly in a chair while Carson patched her up, calling John over only when she became conscious again. "That took a hell of a nerve Colonel... the President? They've been here for the past couple of hours, questionning the soldiers that Lorne brought in - that is, after I had to bloody patch them up - funny how they all ended up with a bullet hole in their leg... something to do with getting inadvertently in the line of fire?"

"Yeah, something like that Doc... accidents happen eh?"

Carson have a non committal grunt. "Well your lady here, considering the war zone that she's just come out of... could be a lot worse. The ribs will heal,the shoulder was dislocated and I've popped that back in, fortunately did that while she was still unconscious."

Her warm eyes were looking at John now, and he carefully picked up the one hand that appeared to have suffered the least from her adventure. "Hey, you..."

"Back atcha sweetheart... you did it Dani. In a slightly unorthodox and not exactly acceptable way, but in the end, it's done. All the men have been caught..."

He was interupted by the sound of a throat clearing, and turning his head, John saw General O'Neill along with the President, walk into the infirmary. Carson, looking a little flustered, backed off and John turned his head back to Dani, sending her a quiet message with his eyes. Their conversation would wait until later.

"I wanted to personally thank you for your part in bringing this down. I know you have been through a traumatic experience, and I know..." here he cast a sideways glance at John, whose back had gone rigid in the chair. ..." that there are those who choose to spread the blame for an event that should never have come to pass."

She took her gaze from John's squeezing his hand gently to let him know she understood how he felt, and locked eyes with the President.

"There are those... who agree that that blame should be shared by more than those who were directly involved and that is something that .. those particular people will need to resolve in their own minds, and in the actions that come to bear once this is made public." She saw the shift in his eyes and sighed. "This won't be made public, will it. It'll be dealt with internally, swept under the carpet with little more than a smack on the wrist... would that be a suitable description... sir?"

She appeared to deflate a little in the bed, and angered, John rose now, turning to face the men. "So it comes down to this? Damn it, I fought for my country - Jesus, out here I fight for my planet, for the prevention of alien threat to the human race and when this becomes compromised, our very existence becomes compromised, it is dealt with in platitudes and non meaning gestures. You people make me sick!"

"Sheppard, stand down - immediately. And that's an order!' The General thundered, wanting to grab the younger man around the neck and shake just a little bit of sense into him. "Their punishment will be dealt out accordingly, and while it may not reach the exacting standards you have obviously set, rest assured Sheppard, it will be done."

Dani attempting to deflect a little of John's anger, spoke to the President. "You found my notes then? Proof that this went as high as your second in command?"

"Yes Dani... may I call you Dani?" at her nod he continued. "Your notes were extremely thorough, fortunately, as the men that were captured have refused to implicate any members of the government, refusing to admit even their own parts in all of this. They're soldiers after all... will take their allegiance to the grave, and unfortunately, that allegiance is not to their country, but a different power. The second stargate has been shut down, packed and put away in storage. Too dangerous to have more than one on our planet, and we do wonder however, if there are any more out there that we don't know about. This particular one, we believe, was located in an extremely deep trough in the Atlantic Ocean. Our scientists have been going over it thoroughy, and trace evidence has been found showing particulates that indicate it had been resting there for some time. We believe that earth has likely, always had at least two stargates, and possibly more."

The President sighed now, looking immeasurably weary, turning to face John. "I hope, Colonel Sheppard, that one day we can help you to get your trust back in your government and your country. You're a good man, and are going an amazing job out here.' He moved forward, putting his hand out, and John, hesitating for a brief moment, took the hand that was offered and shook it.

"Goodbye Colonel Sheppard, Dani. Should you choose to continue your career in politics, I will have a place for you on my staff, you can be sure of that." With a smile, he turned and left, O'Neill following behind, after casting a thoughtful glance at the pair.

"So Dani... a chance to work with the president? Every PoliSci major's dream, I should imagine?" John walked away from the bed and turned abruptly. "Don't leave... stay here, with me."

She held out a hand to him, waiting until he had taken it and brought it up to her cheek so that she could rest it there. "Elizabeth talked to me the other day, about a coalition that she was setting up in this galaxy and that a position would soon become available for a negotiator, someone with political and law background. She asked me if I would be interested to heading it up."

At the cheeky light in her eyes, he took a shuddering breath. "So going down on bended knees and begging was not going to be necessary..."

"Would be an interesting sight... Colonel Sheppard." and she grinned, her eyes alight now with mischief and he laughed out loud, thinking that the future of earth be damned for now, he quite possibly could be looking at his own right here.


End file.
